Hero With Bad Publicity
by sawruhr
Summary: An old "friend" comes to visit. Lance is understandably upset. slight Lance/Ilana/Baron; Newton/Kimmy
1. Stranger in a Strange Land

**I may have gotten some details wrong. And I suck at fight scenes so bear with it.  
**

**:::  
**

General Modula had a lot of time on his hands. Yes, quite a lot. Galaluna had not fallen as quickly as he wanted, but it was getting there. And the King. Ah, the King. He would break soon. It was all coming to an end.

Except for the Princess.

The slight of a girl, on another planet, overshadowed by two protectors. Modula frowned. Xeexi's information had proven quite useful yet troublesome. All the creatures he sent were proving useless, even that small, seemingly innocuous one. That robot, whatever it was dubbed, was too strong, yet…they were not always using it. Yes, there was a good amount of time where the Princess was flagged by her two subordinates (Edward's son and the unknown robot, he thought grimacing), but without the armor. Vulnerable.

The ex-General allowed a small smirk to grace his features (which most have commented to be akin to a primates – Modula killed them soon after such comments).

"Sir." Modula turned from the throne room balcony overlooking the destruction of his former home. The frown returned.

"Drop the pleasantries Baron, what did you find out?" he asked stiffly, never too comfortable around the young man before him. The blond smirked and pulled out of his formal kneel, straightening his cardinal uniform.

"The rebellions in the South should be quiet for a while. I managed to map out their plans and hideouts." He paused to remove a roll of parchment from the inside of his coat pocket and hold it out to the traitor. Modula glanced at the parchment with a raised eyebrow before easily snatching it out of Baron's hands and looking it over with his scrupulous eye.

"But it looks like I can't do reconnaissance anymore. They found out I wasn't exactly trustworthy," continued Baron casually, examining his fingernails. Modula's nose twitched and he immediately snapped the parchment back into its roll, giving his spy a cold look.

"And how did _that _happen?" he bit out in a warning tone. Baron shrugged, standing up from his kneel.

"Don't know really. But I was getting bored anyway." He looked up from his nails to give Modula a dark look, matching the ex-General's own oppressive stare. "I did this as a _favor_. I could care less about what you plan – you should know I'm just in it for the entertainment." And Modula didn't doubt him. The young man was a natural killer. A brat, but a natural killer all the same. The former hero turned to look back over his kingdom, having no qualms with exposing his blind side to the young soldier. Even Baron had some sense not to make any attempts on Modula.

"And, well, I do it for the benefits too. When do I get my cut of the land for all the trouble I had to go through to get your information?" Ah. Yes, a favor that also required a bit of loss on Modula's side. He would just give the soldier some backwater village to rule over. He glanced over his shoulder, about to give a name, when he paused for a moment. Slowly, his eyes focused back on the slaughter that had taken place in the capital city.

"Baron. You remember Princess Ilana, right?"

**:::**

"I thought you said this was going to be easy."

"I made a slight miscalculation." Ilana inwardly frowned as the Titan was hit by a sweep of a tail. Octus seemed to be doing a lot of those lately.

"Focus Ilana." Lance's voice permeated her mind in the shared conscious. The blonde ignored a biting remark and willed Titan to form a shield against the sudden splash of acid that immediately started corroding the barrier. Whatever the current Mutraddi creature was (#461, according to Octus), it was spitting acid left and right from its funnel like mouth. Every move to grab the creature's leech shaped body was met with an acidic skin that further damaged the enormous robot.

"We can't keep taking hits!" came Ilana's voice as #461's dark tail caught them in the side before Lance could conjure up a sword. Titan went flying over the forest trees, nearly landing flat on the colossal conifers (which were severely dwarfed by both the creature and Titan) if not for a quick righting in the air, allowing the machine to land in a crouch.

"The armor will repair itself. Focus on cutting the creature apart." As always, Octus was calm and unemotional, his monotone manner of speech an odd comfort in the stress of battle. Rolling over the trees to avoid the spit of acid, Titan sprang up, swords forming in each hand. Not allowing the grotesque beast to recover from the position needed to shoot acid, Titan jumped and swung both swords inwards. Expectantly, yet unavoidable, the creature's tail lashed around, always vigilant, and struck Titan out of the air, causing it to lose hold of the weapons which also spun into the distance, only to create a trail of devastation as they tore through the forest below.

"Augh," groaned both Ilana and Lance, the damage on their mech only slightly dulled as they landed in a heap. A shot of acid sprung at them, and Titan flung out a shield, the buffer wavering as the caustic and corrosive liquid destroyed the safeguard.

"Octus!" cried Lance, as if somehow the robot could fix the entire situation. In response to Lance's cry, Titan's rockets boosted up, but only managed to destroy the surrounding trees, barely putting any force in the shield. Just as Titan's free hand started to form a sonic canon, the acid assault abruptly ended.

Disabling the shield, ready to pounce, Titan's occupants were faced with a Manus armor delivering swift kicks and punches to the surprised beast.

"Another Manus armor?" All three watched in shock (or whatever Octus had in place of that) as the armor let out a burst of electricity from its palms, stunning the Mutraddi threat. Not hesitating, Manus conjured up a sword and cut through the paralyzed beast twice, killing it on the spot with near impossible to catch speed. As if that wasn't already done, the armor's shoulder plates flipped out, and missiles shot out at the remaining flesh, completely destroying any trace of the Mutraddi beast. The three Galalunians of Titan could only stare as Manus turned to look at them (that is, the occupant of Manus) before dissipating, the pilot lost in the forest below.

"W-Was that another Manus armor?" echoed Lance in disbelief, the strum of Titan's core quieted without the extra pressure of a fight.

"It seems to be so," returned Octus, his voice only slightly holding what some may call emotion.

"We have to check it out, it's from home," ordered Ilana, high pitched. With that, the combined thoughts commanded Titan forward to where the Manus armor had deactivated. In no time, it too was absent in the cloudless Thursday night.

**:::**

**Okay, I know you all probably hate Baron for being a dick to Lance in Shadows of Youth. I do too, but he makes a great plot device (though I am kind of reaching blindly in the dark for his personality - especially with all the years that have passed). And yes, I know it's short, sorry. I'm actually attempting a legit full blown story. It may not end well. Writing wise, I mean. Reviews would be nice.  
**


	2. The Red Baron

**Thanks for the reviews! Seriously, they really motivate me to update quickly. **

**:::**

"Ilana, slow down!" called Lance, hurrying after the Princess in pink heels. She didn't seem to care much for his concern on her footing as she continued to jog, but nonetheless turned to look at him over her shoulder as Octus easily kept pace with her.

"Hurry, it has to be someone from Galaluna!" She sounded so _happy_. Lance frowned and easily sped up, running ahead of the girl. Octus could watch her - he, on the other hand, wanted to scope out the area first; the last thing he needed was a disheartened Ilana. As he traveled further than the two, following the trail of broken trees, he slowed down, finally coming upon a clearing, the moonlight giving the entire area an eerie glow.

"Lance, it's good to see you." Lance snapped his head around, and was faced with a young man leaning up against a tree, wearing the full Galalunian uniform. _Baron_.

For a moment, just a few seconds, Lance was speechless, gaping like a fish at his childhood schoolmate. He looked nearly the same, with his flaxen hair no longer shaven in back yet still flaring, pointed nose that stood out, and dark eyes that were common in most Galalunians. It was like seeing a ghost of the past, almost intangible. Lance could hardly believe that a part of his life on Galaluna was in front of him, someone he finally recognized that was not Ilana or Octus.

"Why are you here?" barked the Corporal after realization hit him, taking a offensive pose as the brush behind him sounded, indicating Ilana and Octus had arrived. Last time he heard, as news travels fast in the Elite Guard, Baron was under investigation for corruption deals on the side and had been demoted to Private.

"Lance," scolded Ilana, quickly coming up to stand next to her bodyguard. "He's wearing the Galalunian uniform, he must have news about our planet!" Not even waiting for a response, she ventured closer to Baron, hands clasped hopefully, pink nails looking a tinge blue in the night.

"Is the war over? Is everyone okay? What about my father, how is he?" she babbled, looking wide-eyed at the blond before her. Baron held up one hand to silence his superior before falling into a royal kneel, one hand balanced on his knee, the other a fist to the ground.

"Princess, it is an honor to meet you. Our world is still under heavy siege but your father has gained control of the rebel forces and is mounting a surprise attack on the capital," replied Baron, looking up at Ilana with a smile, one that immediately reminded Lance of a shark. The freckled girl's eyes brightened and a wide smile broke across her face.

"We're fighting back? I knew it, we would not be defeated so easily!" She laughed gleefully, clapping her hands in overabundant joy. It was as if the earlier stress of the fight was never present; her entire form gave off the feeling of joy and relief.

"Ilana-"started Lance, unable to keep quiet any longer.

"This is wonderful news! Stand soldier, introduce yourself," pressed Ilana, completely ignoring the disgruntled Lance behind her and the calculating Octus, who watched Baron keenly with his one optic, assessing his threat level.

"Lieutenant Baron, at your command," replied Baron, standing up from his formal kneel.

"Don't you mean Private?" snapped Lance, fists clenched and coming to step protectively in front of Ilana. The Princess furrowed her eyebrows and frowned at the sudden intrusion. The Lieutenant just offered his old "friend" a smirk.

"Ranks change in times of necessity, Corporal." Lance fitted Baron with a warning glare, whereas Baron's smug smirk never left his face.

"Lance, don't be rude!" scolded Ilana, about fed up with Lance's behavior. He seemed to be finally adjusting to Earth life, especially after the whole night they spent together while Octus tutored Kimmy. What had Octus called it? A date? Lance's eyes widened and he turned to gape at his ward, but Octus interrupted the moment.

"Helicopters. We need to move."

**:::**

"These people are so primitive," remarked Baron, leaning into the cushions of the tan SUV, seated next to Ilana who was barely contained in her own seat, all attention on the newcomer. Lance had protested, even Octus seemed a bit hesitant on allowing the Princess to sit next to the "stranger," but she had ordered the two into the front seats, Octus in his guise of father, and Lance with a petulant frown and crossed arms.

"Are the Mutraddi still attacking the city? What about the surrounding villages?" piped Ilana, paying no mind to his comments. Baron glanced at her, uncomfortable with the seat belt across his chest, a contraption that Ilana had strictly enforced before Octus could even start the vehicle. It seemed her excitement of news did not quell her insistence on laws.

"Things are still hectic, Princess," explained Baron, staring out the window at the civilians they passed. He narrowed his eyes. _'Disgusting.'_

"What is your mission?" This time it was Octus, glancing at Baron in the rear view mirror. Lance tensed, silent and ready to hear the response.

"I am to aid in the protection of the Princess, under direct orders from her father, until a message is sent with an update on the war effort," recited Baron, giving the robot a neutral stare in the mirror. Octus was not phased.

"The King only requested that I and Lance be placed on this mission," returned Octus. Lance inwardly smiled at Octus' way of insult. Baron narrowed his eyes.

"The King called me to duty when he took back control of the army." He paused to reach into his stark red coat pocket, pulling out a rolled up document and passing it to Octus, who easily took it while maintaining eyes on the road. He took two seconds to untie it, leaving all the occupants of the vehicle to gape as he took both hands off the wheel.

Octus' eyes scanned the document at computer speed before returning to the road, the paper now sitting on the cup holder.

"It's not in the King's handwriting."

"Octus, my father must have been very busy making plans," defended Ilana, giving her robot bodyguard a stern look in the mirror. Lance wondered if this is what the Earthling's called denial.

"That is true Princess. It was written by Captain Lawrence under the command of the King. The royal stamp is there," explained Baron, daring anyone to challenge his explanation.

"Captain Lawrence survived?" questioned Lance, peeking over his seat to give Baron an incredulous look.

"If losing both legs counts as surviving, then yes." This entirely changed the mood of the car. The war had not been exactly _real_ to any of the trio members, as they escaped before seeing the brunt of the attacks. Baron's statement hit hard.

**:::**

"Welcome!" breathed Ilana, stepping into their large house and allowing Baron to pass through the threshold with a grumpy Lance in tow, followed by a Dad masked Octus.

"This is our wonderful home. Not as beautiful as the one on our planet, of course, but accommodating all the same," expressed Ilana, twirling around the living room and landing comfortably on the peach colored couch. Baron walked slowly into the room, arms behind his back like an officer, eyeballing every object in the room with near disinterest.

"It is not as grand as your home in the capital," he stated. Lance snorted, stomping pass the redcoat Lieutenant. Baron had been all around too suspicious in Lance's opinion, either responding to questions too fast or simply stating he did not have the information.

"We need to talk," the dark-haired Corporal explained, reaching the couch and clutching Ilana's arm to yank her up. The Princess furrowed her thin eyebrows, but did not resist.

"What? Why?" Lance didn't answer, instead hurrying pass Baron who watched with an amused smile as the soldier guided Ilana to another door in the room.

"Octus," called Lance as he pushed the door open to the kitchen, indicating that a group meeting was in order.

**:::**

**Did anyone else notice in Lessons in Love that Ilana and Lance chewed with their mouth open? It just really stuck out to me. Maybe that's the polite way of eating on Galaluna? Anything specific you guys want to see in this fic? I'm open to all ideas, as I have no idea where I'm heading with this, haha.(And is Galalunian the correct term? It sounds a bit awkward...)  
**


	3. Two Guys and a Girl

**Yep, I'm popping updates out fast for now but it's a guarantee that it will slow down. It's not you, it's me. And I noticed some grammatical errors in the last two chapters. Sorry, too lazy to go fix them. **

**Long chapter this time. I was going to split it up but decided that I like to read long chapters myself so what the heck. Enjoy.  
**

**:::**

"We can't trust him," breathed Lance, giving his two companions grave looks. Both Ilana and Octus (still in "costume") shared a skeptical look. Seeing the moment pass between them, Lance narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Well," started Ilana, once again sharing a quick look with Octus, "You do tend to get a little…_paranoid_." Lance stiffened and swung his arms out.

"He's a liar and cheat! He tried to kill me. Remember, the War Games' award ceremony, the Medal of Excellence? Your father was there!" babbled Lance, waving his arms around. Ilana frowned in thought and Octus just stared, presumably accessing this information in his files on his two companions.

"I've been to a lot of award ceremonies, Lance," shrugged Ilana, giving him a worried look. "Are you feeling alright?" Lance groaned and grabbed his head, frustrated and starting to feel temperamental.

"Just, just don't trust him!"

"The 2031 awards ceremony at Soldat Military Academy. Lance engaged in unruly behavior with fellow student. Illegal use of Manus armor in the second degree," monotoned Octus, staring straight ahead, over the shoulders of the two as he usually did when reciting information. Lance seemed to brighten up at this announcement.

"Exactly. The other student was Baron. He was trying to kill me, all because I beat him in the War Games!" snapped Lance, giving Ilana a pleading look. The blonde knitted her eyebrows.

"I…I remember that. Father said you two were out of bounds. Playing on a rivalry," she repeated, surely.

"It wasn't play, it-" Ilana gave her bodyguard a stern look.

"Lance, I think you're over exaggerating," she said, crossing her arms. Lance gave her a shocked expression, then looked to Octus for support. The robot gave him what seemed to be an uncomfortable look.

"I don't trust Baron entirely either, but it doesn't say anything about that in your file Lance. Maybe as a child-" The doorbell rung, permeating the thick walls of the kitchen. Out of habit, Lance turned and pressed his back against Ilana, shoving her into Octus as he eyed the surroundings.

"Laaaance," whined Ilana, "it's just the doorbell, _remember_? Octus." With that, she pushed her protector off and pointed to the kitchen door. But, unlike usual, Octus seemed to hesitate, his form now dissipating into that of Newton.

"Uh, Octus, why did you change?" asked Lance, pushing his earlier worries to the side for the moment. The bell rang again. They heard a crash from the living room, and the distinct sound of ceramic breaking. Lance, taking no chances, rushed out the kitchen and into the living room to see Baron using the coffee table as a "fort," peeking over the edge and aiming his pistol at the door, where the bell continued to ring. Lance stifled a laugh.

"Put that away," giggled Ilana, coming into the room, oddly without the now disguised Newton.

"But-"

"You heard her," grumbled Lance, sending his childhood tormentor a glare. Baron returned it, but nonetheless pocketed the gun in his coat. Illana sent Lance a firm look before opening the front door to reveal Kimmy. The blond's face immediately dropped as she took in the image of the redhead with her hair extra curled and wearing a yellow dress with flowers on the hem. If Kimmy noticed, she gave no inclination; rather, she gave Ilana a perky smile.

"Me and Newton are going out today," explained the redhead, clutching her purple purse to her side, obviously not noticing her improper grammar. She let out a sigh, as if lovestruck.

"Where is he? And why is he always at your house anyway?" she questioned, letting herself in, much to the chagrin of Ilana who was still not exactly comfortable around her presence.

"Uh, he'll be here in a minute," mumbled Ilana, closing the door and glancing from the equally uncomfortable Lance to the kitchen door.

"Good," piped Kimmy, nodding her head, the curls bouncing with every move. It was then that she noticed the young man in the red coat.

"Who's the British looking guy?" she asked, giving Baron a curious, yet unattached stare. Ilana reckoned that if Kimmy had met Baron earlier, she would be acting just as rude as Lance, except for no reason other than because he looked out of place.

"No one."

"Our cousin."

The two replies came at the same time. Kimmy gave the faux-siblings a raised, perfectly waxed eyebrow before shrugging.

"Whatever," she brushed off. Well, at least some things were still the same.

There was a completely too long moment of silence, where the only sound was the ticking of the clock, a sunflower shaped one that Ilana had been eying since the first day she went to the mall with Lance. Kimmy was checking her manicured nails (though the look in her eyes said her mind was on something completely different), Ilana was sharing frowns with Lance, and Baron was watching Ilana.

A minute passed.

"We're going to go check on him," broke Ilana, gesturing to Lance who gave Kimmy a stiff nod and awkward smile. They both rushed out of the room and into the kitchen, nearly getting stuck in the doorway as they both tried to escape the uncomfortable situation at the same time. Kimmy just blinked at their departure before slowly turning to look at the equally silent Baron, who was now giving her a glare. And, as if she was finally aware of her surroundings, she glanced around the room, taking notice of the overturned coffee table, and the dark blue vase, broken on the floor, with plastic gold colored tulips scattered around it.

"What happened?" she asked bluntly, pointing to the mess on the floor. Baron's glare didn't seem to particularly ease up, but moved to the table and vase.

"I tripped."

"…oh."

**:::**

"Octus," hissed Lance, pointing his finger into his large teammate's realistic feeling chest. "Why is she here?"

"I thought we told you to say no if she needed help," affirmed Ilana; she wasn't exactly _mad_, just a bit unsettled. "Newton" held up his meaty hands to placate the two confrontational teenagers, backing up to the counter.

"It's not like that," he defended. Why was he mincing words? Why couldn't he just tell them how it was?

"It's complicated," the robot offered to their inquiring stares. Lance's frowned deepened and he crossed his arms, just about losing all his patience. He did _not _have time for this. Ilana was quite the opposite, face falling and eyebrows creasing.

"You…_like _spending time with Kimmy?" she asked quietly, giving him that large, doe eyed look of hers. Unlike Lance, Octus was not affected by it, but understood it was best to be careful with the words he used when Ilana was giving that look. A wrong word could send her into some kind of mood.

"She is…interesting to be around," explained Octus, eyebrows quirking, a human expression he was starting to realized kept happening unconsciously. This didn't seem to satisfy Ilana.

"We don't have time for her," remarked Lance, giving Octus a disapproving look. "We have more important things to worry about, like Baron and-"

"Baron is not a security risk as of now," declared Octus, with some sort of bite to his words, eyebrows dropping and lips pulling down on the edges. A glare. "And neither is Kimmy." With that, he turned and walked to the door, but paused to glance back at his companions.

"We're going to an eating establishment of some sort. I will put power into a background operation of unlocking some encrypted files in my database. Some may have information on Baron."

:::

"About time," chimed Kimmy, giving Newton a bright smile. She reached for his hand, and he made no move to reject her, simply returning her smile with his own, almost unnoticeable one. It was never as hard to smile around Kimmy as it was around other humans, where the expression was forced and faked.

"Bye guys," waved Kimmy to Lance and Ilana who ambled slowly into the room, looking obviously disheartened.

"And, uh…" she paused to look at Baron who was standing by the large window, back turned to her.

"Baron," provided Newton.

"Right." The wide smiled returned to Kimmy's face as she leaned into Newton's arm and strolled out the house, allowing the front door to close on its own. The two pretend siblings gave each other a worried look, both realizing that Octus was truly _friends _with the bratty cheerleader. Baron slowly turned around from the window, but not before closing the curtains.

"Oh," he heard Ilana gasp, realizing the vase she had picked out was broken on the floor. She pouted at the mess, not noticing Baron and Lance had returned to their personal glaring match.

"Lance, get me the, uhm, _broom _and trashcan, please," she asked, righting the coffee table to its original position and placing the plastic tulips on it gently.

"Baron." Lance motioned to the kitchen door, an order for the lieutenant to take his place. Baron made no act to move. Not hearing any signs of movement, Ilana looked up from where she was inspecting the shards of the ceramic vase. She glanced between the two soldiers, giving them both a confused look.

"Uh, Lance? Please?" she asked again, slowly standing up. Lance didn't even look at her.

"Baron should get it. He broke it in the first place," bit out the corporal, and if possible, his glare for his former classmate deepened. Baron's eyes immediately snapped to Ilana who was giving him an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. Lance got a bit jumpy when we first heard the doorbell too. He still does it sometimes," explained the princess, offering Baron her charming smile, which he returned with his own. Lance gaped at the two, making some sort of noise from the back of his throat.

"I-"

"The broom, Lance," ordered Ilana, pointing to the kitchen door and giving him a knowing look. She didn't usually order him around, only when she was particularly disagreeable at the moment. Lance scowled as he stalked his way to the kitchen. Funny, she wasn't disagreeable when talking to _Baron._

"Sorry about him," apologized the blonde princess, making her way from the fragments to the lieutenant, giving him a half-smile. Baron returned it.

"It's fine. Lance has always been…difficult." Ilana laughed, putting one hand to her mouth just like she was taught as a child.

"That's one way of putting it." The laughter subsided, and another round of silence enveloped the room. Ilana glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen door. She could hear Lance stomping around, looking for the plastic broom.

"I should-" She turned, and nearly bumped her nose into Baron's collar. He had sidled closer to her, his height, about the same as Lance's, dwarfing her.

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly, pursing her lips and edging her foot backwards but not entirely moving.

"It must be a pity being here," whispered Baron, looking down at the princess with half-lidded eyes. She averted her own, afraid, no, _nervous_. But not a bad kind of nervous.

"What do you mean?" she whispered back. Why was she whispering? Was he worried Lance would hear? Was _she _worried?

"You deserve better," he simply said. But just those three words sent a shiver up her spine, his deep voice a mixture of praise and…something else. She wasn't quite sure what.

"Here's the broom." Ilana jumped, snapping her entire body around to face a more than peeved Lance holding out the maroon object, the trashcan on the floor behind him. He glanced between the two suspiciously; whereas Ilana had immediately turned from Baron in a failed attempt to make space between them, Baron had simply stood right at her back. She felt the buttons of his jacket against her thin shoulders.

Lance had to do something. He didn't trust Baron, _at all_. In fact, the only thing keeping him from throwing the "lieutenant" through the window was Ilana's orders. He in no way believed Octus' "not a security risk" talk. Baron simply _existing _was a security risk. The longer the blond man stayed, the more danger Ilana was in. He was going to make her realize that.

"We should go finish our homework." He gave Ilana a pointed look. Lance _never _wanted to do his homework. Or even go to school for that matter.

"I finished mine," chirped the princess a little too quickly for Lance's taste, hurriedly grabbing the broom and walking past him to sweep up the remains of the blue vase. He caught a hint of her shampoo, some sort of fruit (strawberries they were called?) scented one.

"Homework?" inquired Baron, unconsciously placing his hands behind his back once again. Ilana perked up at his tone, sending him an excited smile.

"Here, people our age go to highschool. It's where we learn fascinating things about this world's history, culture, sciences, and other subjects!" explained Ilana, pausing from her sweeping. Lance resisted the urge to groan. If someone didn't stop her, Ilana would start to rant about the joy of school and homework, things he decidedly did not care for nor want to hear about at the moment.

"It's great, yeah," grumbled Lance, looking away from the smiling Ilana who nodded at Baron. She continued to sweep again.

"Octus will probably enroll you since you're going to be staying here," she continued. Lance gaped.

"What? No he's not. Octus only enrolled us because our mission was to assimilate. _His _isn't," stressed Lance, gesturing wildly at the amused Baron.

"Actually-"

"He's _part _of our mission. Aid, _assistance_, remember?"

"We don't need _assistance_. We have it under control."

"Sure Lance, three days ago was under control. We nearly got killed at the promenade!"

"I had it under control, we-"

"Ahem." The arguing pair snapped their attention to Baron who was raising one eyebrow, glancing at both of them. "The King added me to your mission. Your mission is my mission." Lance narrowed his eyes.

"No, it isn't. We can't trust you, you could be-"

"If I was sent to kill you, you would already be dead," remarked Baron dryly. Lance clenched his fists.

"Okay, you two," interrupted Ilana, coming between them, both palms up to each of their chests. "It's not important who's stronger. We're a team now. All that matters is that we're strong together, because as a joined force, as one, we can defeat any foes, we can-"

"He's not part of Titan," snapped Lance, partially to stop a speech, and partially because it was true. Baron twitched unnoticeably, thoughts running through his head, particularly about moments before he went to the rift gate, all regarding the so dubbed Titan. He narrowed his eyes slightly as his lips tugged upwards. This was all going to be too easy. Ilana sighed and crossed her arms.

"Lance, just drop it, okay? Now's not the time for a petty fight. We need to get accommodations for Baron," she scolded.

"He's not staying."

"You don't have a choice," said Baron, stepping closer to Ilana, looking over her head directly at Lance. "I have my orders and only those of the Princess overrides them." With that, he leered and his mouth crooked up, a mocking grin only Lance could see. The dark haired boy sneered and also stepped closer in response, onyx eyes boring into Baron's equally black ones.

"I know what you are. Don't think that you can fool me."

"Guys!" burst Ilana, trapped between the two taller individuals who were violating her personal space. She placed her hands on their chests again to push them apart. Neither moved. They were locked in their own world.

"No fighting in the house, okay," she tried, once again pushing. It didn't work, and if anything, the two seemed to move closer, just to get up in each other's face. Ilana scowled and crossed her arms, one heeled foot tapping the wood paneling.

"Hello, Princess of Galaluna here, your ward," she said dryly. This caught their attention, as they immediately backed up, Lance more so than Baron, and looked to her at attention. She nodded, eyes closed.

"Good. First, Lance," she pointed at her fake brother, "Baron is staying. No arguments. My father sent him with valuable information and in case you didn't notice, he saved us back there." Lance opened his mouth, ready to try and shake some sense into her, but she brought the finger up once against to silence him.

"Second, we deal with the vase. I'm not quite sure I want to throw it out." She paused for a moment, in thought, before shaking her head. "And third, Baron needs new clothes. I'm sure yours will fit him." Lance's eyes widened dramatically before narrowing just as quickly.

"No." That was that. They were _his _clothes. And he only had four outfits, all consisting of blues and blacks. There was _no way _Baron was going to be walking around dressed like him. Ilana shrugged, feigning carelessness.

"That's fine, we could always go shopping for some," she commented flippantly, half turning away from Lance, as if his opinion on the issue did not matter in the least. Lance nearly gagged. He, to put it nicely,_ strongly disliked with extreme prejudice_, the mall. It had its uses. But it was too crowded, too loud, and too big. Easy to get lost, and _stifling_. All those bodies packed in one area, just on leisure, ignorant of a reality that did not involve shallow values. However, there was still no chance that Baron was going to be sharing his clothes. That would _not _happen. But, he couldn't just let Ilana go alone with the blond liar, no, not that.

Well.

"I'll drive."

**:::**

**Ohohoho, see my symbolism there? Blue vase, yellow flowers? Baron breaking the vase? YOU GET IT? Anyway, shit's about to go down. Well, not really. Fun chapter planned next. No, I did not just shaft Octus. He _is _hard to write for, but I really think he and Kimmy are an super cute couple so I'm going to have a little subplot with them. And the Baron/Ilana/Lance triangle? Well, I'm going for that too, but I suck at romance sooo things are going to be a bit slow moving. But things will definitely happen, ohoho. Reviews are always appreciated.**

**EDIT: Now with pic from yours truly**** (****ht tp :/ solid snail . dev iant art . com / # / d34b h3v-** **Remember to take out the spaces) Enjoy ;D**


	4. Real Women Wear Dresses

**Thanks for all the positive reviews!**

**Sorry about the delayed update. School and stuff took over. In case you didn't see my little edit last chapter, I made a quick pic of the last scene here: ****ht tp :/ solid snail . dev iant art . com / # / d34b h3v**

**And for those who didn't quite catch the symbolism: Lance was the blue vase, holding (_protecting) _the yellow flowers (which represented Ilana). When Baron came into their lives, he knocked the table over and destroyed the vase, allowing the flowers to fall out. Simply put, Baron's appearance on Earth is already showing negative consequences, breaking down Lance's focus and drawing Ilana further away.**

**:::  
**

The drive to Sherman Town Mall was…_tense_.

Lance, as he had promised, was driving the Oldsmobile he and Octus had put together, hands clenching the steering wheel and staring straight ahead at the car in front of him. Next to him, either not noticing the mood or just ignoring it, Ilana was changing the radio station, trying to find an upbeat song that she liked. Baron, as expected, was sitting stiffly in the backseat, glancing out the window every now and then, obviously uncomfortable to be out of his uniform.

It had taken a lot of prying and begging, and outright ordering (that actually _didn't _work the first time around) to get Lance to finally give up a pair of dark jeans, but that was all they got. Unable to acquire a shirt, Baron stuck with his white tunic that he wore under his vest and coat; a pair of jeans were nearly impossible to get, anything else was pushing it. The jeans were visibly too tight, something Lance was inwardly grinning at, glad to get a potshot at the former enemy, no matter how small. Regardless, Baron managed to stuff his boots under the material to not arouse suspicion as Lance only owned one pair of shoes and Ilana's would obvious _not _fit him.

Finally, Ilana settled on a song, something about teenagers and dreams, and bopped her head to the beat. Both Baron and Lance cringed.

**:::**

"Okay, first, some shoes!" piped Ilana, stepping through the glass doors of the mall, followed by a smiling Baron and an irritated Lance. The blonde placed one finger to her lip, trying to recall where the shoes' stores were, eyes wandering to the map stationed at the entrance of the rather large mall. Baron's smile seemed to drop as he took in the entire area, eyes wandering all over, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. A group of girls walked by, giggling and laughing about, followed by a man yelling into some kind of device, saying something about tutus. Tutus?

Lance watched Baron turn around like an _dork _(a term Octus had so graciously explained to him), eyes wandering in fascination around the entire mall. Lance snorted, sticking his hands in his pockets and going to brood by a bench farther from the two.

"Hmm," mused Ilana, tracing her hand from the "You Are Here" point to various other stores. Finally, she nodded, getting the route she wanted. "Okay," she affirmed, turning around, expecting to see her two bodyguards in a fist fight. Needless to say, she was rather surprised that they weren't at each other's throats.

Baron was standing by the water fountain, unsure of its uses, and constantly pressing the button as he watched the water spurt out. Farther to her right, Lance was sulking by a bench with an elderly couple who was sending him strange looks.

"Uh. That's a water fountain. You drink the water," commented Ilana, coming closer to Baron and pointing at the object that he was staring at with such intensity.

"I see," he stated simply. "So…_barbaric_." Yet it managed to hold his attention while Ilana went to grab Lance who looked like he was being dragged to a death sentence. No. He looked way worse than that.

"Just follow me you two," stated the princess with slight arrogance, enjoying the knowledge she had over them. Neither seemed to be listening, as Baron had once again taken to looking off in every direction and Lance was sending him looks that could kill. Regardless, they managed to make it halfway to their destination when it was Ilana who broke their journey.

"Oooh," she cooed, pressing up against the glass of a women's store, where various kinds of dresses were on display. Distracted by the pretty, as it would be.

"Why are they on those…things," asked Baron, slowly coming up behind Ilana and wrinkling his pale nose in revulsion

"To show off the outfit," giggled Ilana, enjoying the fact that for once, it wasn't her who was asking all the questions.

"That's silly. Why not just get real women to model them?"

"Would _you _want to stand there all day?" butted in Lance, coming up on Ilana's other side, but not because he wanted to examine the dresses. Baron shrugged.

"All those things have the same figure. How would one know how it looks on other types of figures?" asked Baron, trying to justify his claim.

"You try them on," mumbled Ilana, fascinated with the line of dresses, eying them with her large eyes, fingers pressed against the glass. Noticing her interest, Baron shifted a bit closer, leaning over to say directly in her ear, "Would you like to try them on?" It was a casual question, but caused Ilana's heartbeat to spike, and the shiver from before returned as she felt his hot breath on her ear.

"We don't have time," grumbled Lance, seeing and effectively breaking the moment, noticeably moving to get between the two. Ilana's face fell, and Lance wanted to slap himself. Great; this thing about revealing Baron's faults was _not _working.

"I mean," blurted Lance, holding up his hands, as if to touch Ilana but resisting, "if you want to try them on, then go right ahead." He immediately regretted his sentence, knowing that it had just gotten him stuck in the mall. Still, he hated to see Ilana disappointed, and he supposed this would at least give him some private time to interrogate Baron. Getting his approval set Ilana off, as she brightened considerably, already making her way into the girly store and greeting the employee at the door.

**:::**

"Okay, I want to try these four on, what do you think?" Ilana held up four bright colored garments, smiling hopefully. Lance stuffed his hands in his jeans' pockets and shrugged. Fashion was _not _his forte, as the Earthlings said.

"Anything would look lovely on you, Princess," complimented Baron, obviously staring at Ilana and not the dresses. She turned red under his eyes.

"You can just call me Ilana." Lance fumed. She had never given _him _permission. He just started calling her by first name. The princess left the two soldiers with a smile before disappearing into the changing room to find a booth, leaving Lance and Baron at the back of the store near the changing room entrance. It was quiet, as not only the day was slow but the changing rooms were more toward the secluded area of the store.

"Why are you here?" asked Lance bluntly, narrowing his eyes. Baron smiled at him, that irritating smile of his, so arrogant and deceptive.

"I already told you," he answered simply, mimicking Lance's pose by placing his hands in his pockets. It didn't quite work, given the fact that the jeans were nearly glued to his body. The corporal scowled and brought one hand up to point at Baron, giving him a threatening look.

"You need to leave. The princess is under my protection. The king entrusted _me_. You're unfit and unqualified for this mission," he seethed, voice quiet but holding warning. Baron rolled his dark eyes before smacking Lance's hand away.

"Don't be jealous _Corporal_, you-" Lance slammed his elbow into Baron's throat, shoving the older man into the wall and cutting off his airway. It seemed that once Lance had gotten over his initial shock of Baron actually _touching _him, he wasted no time in retaliating.

"You're leaving. I don't care how, but you are," he hissed, nearly nose to nose with Baron. The blond struggled to breathe, eyes scrunching up and snarling, perhaps expecting Lance to let go, but when he didn't Baron kneed Lance in the stomach and grabbed his right arm. He twisted the younger man's arm behind his back and slammed him face first into the wall, resounding in a muted thump.

"Don't interrupt me," returned Baron. Lance smirked. Finally, a chance to get some sort of revenge. He didn't waste time, using his other elbow to shove Baron away and easily twisting his arm out of the textbook hold. He aimed punch, ready and sure, for Baron's skull, but the Lieutenant knocked it away with his forearm and kicked Lance in the side. Unexpectantly, Lance caught the kick and used both arms to flip Baron by his leg, sending the blond to the floor. He didn't falter, reaching over to grab the Lieutenant's cuff, just at Baron clenched at his shoulders, ready to throw Lance over his head.

"Guys, come look!"

It was Ilana. Both young men scrambled off of each other and sent one another a glare. _We'll finish this later_. Baron straightened his clothing as Lance ran his hand through his hair to get it to settle down. They stomped into the changing room, shoulder to shoulder, trying not to reach for one another's throat again.

Ilana was standing in front of a mirror, her back to the two as she examined herself. Seeing them in the reflection, she turned, revealing her full outfit, an enormous and poofy pale pink dress, highly impractical as it was barely contained in the hall of the fitting room. The equally bulky sleeves hung off her petite shoulders, revealing subtle freckles before ending just above her elbow, tied at the end with white ribbons.

"Isn't this beautiful?" she said with a bouncing in her voice as she pulled up the skirt portion. It was…big. And distracting. In more ways than one, thought Lance, trying to keep his eyes off the torso area. Baron, however, had no problem ogling the overexposed cleavage (not that Ilana had much to show off).

"It's...pink," stated Lance plainly, the only thing he felt comfortable saying at that moment. Ilana slightly scowled at his lack of commentary, and glanced at Baron for his opinion.

"It's too big and impractical. Nothing like the dresses of Galaluna." Exactly the response she was _not _expecting. But, they were soldiers after all.

"It's just for fun," huffed Ilana. "And since you two dislike it so much, I'm buying it."

"It's not-" started Lance in defense but Baron interrupted him, his smooth voice easily drawing attention.

"By all means do so Ilana. It may be unnecessary but it compliments your body." Lance supposed this was Baron's way of subtly being lecherous. (He wondered if Octus would notice Baron's body buried under the yard.) Nevertheless, Ilana seemed to eat it up like a starving pilgrim. The blonde nodded happily to herself.

"Thank you. I'm going to try on the rest, stay here." With that, she skipped back into the booth and locked the door, all while humming to herself.

**:::**

Luckily, the other three dresses did not entrance Ilana so, and she dismissed them in favor of the poofy pink one. The trio returned to their journey through the mall of shopping, with a triumphant and excited Ilana dragging the hulking bag with the dress, followed by a sulking Lance and oddly calm Baron.

"The robot." Ilana and Lance snapped their attention to Baron, noticing he had stopped in place and was staring in the direction of the food court, his eyes narrowed.

"…what?" Baron sent Lance an eyeroll.

"The robot assigned to you. He's over there in that flesh disguise." Low and behold, Octus was sharing a meal with the cheerleader Kimmy, both in an animated conversation (which meant Octus was actually nodding his head and the such). Ilana furrowed her eyebrows as she came up next to Baron to stare at the couple.

"Yeah…" She didn't sound too happy. Lance slowly idled over to them, taking a peek at Ilana's almost disappointed expression.

"You okay?" The blonde snapped around to look at him.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." Lance knew her too well.

"I don't get it either," shrugged Lance, gesturing to the pair they were watching. Ilana offered him a sad smile, almost unnoticeable, just for Lance. From her other side, Baron raised an eyebrow at their interaction, noting it for later, before once again glancing at Octus.

"Who's the girl?" he inquired, watching the scene like watching the making of a weapon, taking in every detail, looking for a fault. When Ilana didn't answer like she usually did, Lance took it upon himself to take another jab at Baron.

"Someone I think you would get quite along with," he grunted. Baron gave him a side glance.

"Is she a security risk? Is the robot planning to kill her?"

"What?" Ilana gave him a horrified look. "Of course not. I mean, Kimmy's not exactly my favorite person but we would never _kill _her." If possible, Baron's eyebrows raised higher.

"So, why is the robot dining with her?" That was the key question and neither Ilana nor Lance could answer, both sharing another look. Ever since tutoring Kimmy, Octus had been…off. And now that Baron was here, they wouldn't be able to keep a close eye on their third teammate. Wasn't it suppose to be the other way around?

Lance frowned, realizing exactly what was happening. Octus was getting distracted. Distracted by this world, this life. He would need to talk with Ilana.

Baron glanced from both Ilana and Lance, noticing both were deep in thought. He narrowed his dark eyes, wondering exactly what type of secrets they were keeping from him.

"You don't know," he stated simply, surely, sounding almost amused. "Your robot is off _gallivanting _with an Earthling and has left the princess in the care of a soldier. You really do need my help." Lance, provoked by Baron's words as he always was, glared at the blond

"Things are under control. Don't you ever assume that we need your help."

**:::**

**Ehhh, I'm not too happy with this chapter but decided to let loose. I'll admit, I'm struggling with fight scenes and description, and am still weary of where I'm heading. Any advice on how to improve my writing would be really helpful! **

**(Just to let you all know, I won't update on a regular schedule (once a week, etc.). Sorry, I just need inspiration and time, which I'm currently lacking. But I'm not going to abandon this. If I do end up unable to finish, I _will _end it with some closure. I hate to leave readers hanging.)  
**


	5. Real Men Have Nice Feet

**Once again, sorry for the slow update and thanks for the reviews.**

** I don't know if you guys noticed but I decided not to include a genre for this. Mostly because I flip flop around, and because although I do plan romance, I'm very hesitant in writing it. It's surprisingly hard, believe it or not (well, for me) sooo I apologize if this is moving slow. I'm a buildup type of writer, you know, the ones you wanna smack for delaying the moment. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter, another guest star is visiting. ;D**

**:::  
**

Baron had- Lance tried to stifle his laughter- _dainty _feet.

Although amusing, why Baron chose to take off his socks bothered Lance, as the smell of lilacs_ (__lilacs_) wafted throughout the shoe store.

"Can you just cover those things up," remarked Lance, leaning against a shelf of shoes while Baron unconsciously wiggled his toes while sitting on the small bench waiting for Ilana. Baron smiled.

"Does it bother you?" He wiggled his toes, this time deliberately. Lance scowled. He didn't like feet in general, but _Baron's _feet were the worst. It wasn't as if they were dirty, quite the opposite actually. Lance frowned, once again glancing at Baron's pale feet. They were too…_clean_. Too well kept. When Lance landed on Earth, right after being taken off the front lines, his feet were dry, toenails uneven, and skin peeling. Even Ilana's feet had not maintained their usual high quality.

"I got you some sneakers. They're very comfortable." Ilana was nearly running down the aisle, two shoeboxes clutched to her small chest. Lance still wondered how she managed that in heels.

"And some boots, just like Lance's," she commented handing Baron the two different size boxes, not even noticing Lance's bitter scowl. He accepted them with that _smile _of his, eyes lingering on Ilana's. The two held onto the boxes, simply staring at one another.

Lance felt like he wasn't suppose to be there. Which was silly, because he had every right to be.

"We need to talk," he interrupted, facing Ilana. Her dark eyes widened, breaking contact with Baron's before she turned to give the corporal a questioning look. Lance didn't say anything, just ushered her to follow him to the end of the aisle.

"Did you see his feet?" he asked once out of Baron's hearing range. Ilana raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"…what?"

"His feet. Don't they seem a little…_clean _to you?" Ilana didn't even bother to take a peek, just immediately glaring up at Lance.

"Would you stop. I get it, you and him weren't exactly friends as children-" Lance scoffed-"But this is now. He's on our side and besides, he doesn't seem that bad." The blonde's gaze wavered to Baron, who was inspecting a sneaker, pulling at the gray tongue. She smiled. Lance glowered.

"He's just trying to trick you," snapped Lance, trying to gain back her attention. It didn't work.

**:::**

The rest of the shopping went by uneventful, with Baron buying a pair of dark boots with laces, and settling on whatever else Ilana seemed to thrust in his arms. By the time they walked out of the mall, this time through a back entrance, they were heaving several bags, ones Lance was forced to carry as Baron's arms were full (according to Ilana) and the princess was holding her own dress.

"Look who it is." For maybe the hundredth time that day, Lance cursed his luck, or lack thereof.

Leaning against the wall right near the entrance holding a cigarette, surrounded by men and women, was Mike Chan, looking positively smug. He slowly stepped off the wall, dropping the cigarette and shaking his girlfriend's hands off of him.

"Hey there Baby Boy. You went shopping with Lil Sis and your boyfriend?" Lance was about ready to smash Chan's face repeatedly into the pavement. He already had to deal with Baron, wasn't that enough?

"Just ignore him Lance," said Ilana, seemingly unaware of the tension in the air as she gestured for her "brother" to follow her.

"Oh, I'm hurt Little Sis. I ain't good enough for your time?" Even though Chan had asked Ilana, he was looking at Lance, the same predator smile that Baron usually had now plastered on his face. This wasn't going to end well. Ilana scowled, stalking up to step in front of Lance, glaring at Chan.

"How did you get out?" questioned Lance, immediately shoving Ilana behind him before the princess could say a word, the plastic bags clutched in one hand.

"I have my ways," replied Chan smoothly, glancing back at the rest of his gang, most of whom were giving Lance the same predator smile, yellow stained teeth bared.

"Stop idling. Let's go," complained Baron, already making his way to the parking lot. Chan spared him a glance, as if acknowledging his existence, and Lance took the chance to grab Ilana by her upper arm and lead her away. He wasn't _afraid_ (He was a trained soldier in an elite army. Chan was just a street punk). He just didn't want Ilana caught in the crossfire.

"I don't think so." Chan quickly grabbed Lance by the collar of his blue shirt, pulling him to his face. "Let's have some fun." Lance glared, itching to wipe the smirk off Chan's face.

"Not now," he bit out, unconsciously tightening his grip on the plastic bags that were starting to seem way too heavy right now. Chan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ilana who Lance still held on to. She was fixing him with the same glare as Lance, her small mouth pulled into a disapproving frown.

"Lil Sis and Boyfriend can leave. You, naw man." Lance dropped the bags and smacked Chan's oil-stained hand off his collar.

"He's not my friend," the soldier spat out, reaching for his bags. This seemed to be the first hit, and Chan immediately smashed a fist across Lance's face when he went for the bags. It didn't hurt, not as much as Lance expected. He let go of Ilana's arm, ready to take the offensive as he quickly knocked Chan's arm away as the Asian man tried for a second punch.

"Lance, no!" cried Ilana, most likely because she knew he would cause a scene and get them in trouble. But Lance didn't care. He was just so _angry . _Angry with Baron, angry with Octus, angry with Chan, and angry at _Ilana_. He and Chan circled one another, daring the other to make another move, but Lance didn't expect Chan's friends to also get involved. One gang member had crept up behind him and twisted his muscled arms back into a hold, leaving him prone for Chan to beat on.

"Hey!" both Ilana and Lance exclaimed, Lance because his _beef_ (another Earth term Octus so medically explained) was with Chan, and Ilana because that was undoubtedly unfair. Chan didn't hesitate, bashing Lance across the face and in the torso, not expecting the "lanky" boy to feel like a wall. Not one to stand by, Ilana shoved at the man holding Lance, wrenching at his arms. It wasn't like Lance really needed the help, since she was sure he could break out of the hold, but it wasn't in her nature to just watch anyone be defenselessly hurt. The man was forced to let go, attention now on Ilana who had kicked him in the hip. She didn't get to do much damage, as another of Chan's gang grabbed her from the back, heaving her petite body off the ground. Just as she was about to kick him in the groin with her heel, he let go, and was slammed into the brick wall of the mall by Baron, who was calmly clutching his throat.

The scene erupted into violence, most of Chan's gang now attacking, either by restricting Lance's movements or trying to throttle Baron who had become a nuisance. Ilana also proved to be bothersome if anyone tried to assault her, easily kicking those twice her size in the back of their knees and then kneeing them in the face as they fell over.

"What's this Baby Boy, need Lil Sis and Boyfriend to rescue you?" Chan mocked, once again circling with Lance, who was watching his sides, as if daring the nearby gang members to try anything. After having easily been thrown off, they seemed to stand off, either looking for the right moment or inching farther away.

"I should ask you that. Can't take me by yourself?" replied Lance, taking a moment to give Chan a smug smirk, akin to that of a snake. He could easily end this, easily turn Chan into a mess of displaced limbs, but right now, he was looking for something to hit. Chan frowned. They continued to circle, and Lance started to get antsy. Why was this taking so long? Why wouldn't Chan just lunge like the overconfident idiot he was? Decidedly irritated and cracking his wrists, Lance started to inch closer as they circled one another, until he felt the right spot was reached. Almost spontaneously, his right legged snapped out for a swift high kick, one he meant to smash into Chan's face. The big haired man ducked, as if he _knew _Lance's move, and collided into Lance, using the corporal's momentum and lack of balance to throw them both to the floor.

Knowing his position on the ground was exactly where he didn't want to be, Lance easily shoved Chan's bulk over, but the Asian man held tight to his shirt, and was attempting to aim for Lance's nose. The two struggled on the floor, getting cheap shots in and riling up the gathered crowd.

Then, Lance gained the upper hand, rolling Chan to the side and cuffing him across his face. He didn't bother to wait for the recoil, sending another hit as he teetered to stand over the man. Lance made to grab Chan's collar, to drag him to his feet, when he caught sight of the man's face, now stained red from the blood gushing from a broken nose and split lip. Lance stared, not exactly _shocked_, but intrigued. How much more damage could he do to Chan's face? He never found out, for at the next moment, he felt the pressure of an object up against his midsection. Chan had pulled out a gun, barrel pressed against Lance's torso.

The criminal smirked, more blood pouring down his long chin.

"Checkmate bro. You're really gunna hurt now." With that, he used the weapon to back Lance up as he got to his feet. The crowd had fallen silent, only to be interrupted by the strangled cry of a man, whom everyone immediately turned to. He was brunette, with tattoos all over his bare arms, one of which Baron had casually just broken.

If anything, Chan seemed _amused_.

"Looks like we got an animal here, boys," he addressed his gang, as if he _wasn't _bleeding profusely from his disfigured nose.

"Baron!" It was Ilana, teetering on the edge of the destruction, as if to slowly disassociate from the violence. "You- Lance!" Finally, she had taken notice of the corporal, now eyeing the gun with a deadpan expression. He didn't look too well off, dark hair a mess, bruised chin and black eye. Thankfully, only a streak of blood across his face, from the whiplash of Chan's own wounds. Regardless, Lance didn't seem to take much notice of his own "injuries" (because Chan's hits were nothing to what he faced on Galaluna), staring down at the Earth weapon. Chan's grip was firm but inexperienced. A simple twist of his wrist and he would be disarmed.

Lance was about to, right there, snap Chan's thick wrist just as easily as Baron had torn that man's muscle and tendons, but sirens in the distance, those damn sirens, made everyone flinch and instinctively ready for an escape.

"We'll finish this later Baby Boy." Chan's voice retained its arrogance, like he had not just been close to an unfortunate and crippling injury. He slipped the gun, the type that Lance made sure to remember, into his waistband and glanced at Ilana.

"Lil Sis," he saluted, then gave Baron a _look_. Baron returned it.

**:::**

"I can't believe you two!" erupted Ilana once they were all home, throwing her small hands in the air. Lance glared at her. He had just taken a seat on the couch (which Baron promptly did as well) and wanted to rest, to think, just in silence, and Ilana was already starting up her tangent right in front of them. He made a move to get up, but Ilana leaned over to point at his face.

"No. Neither of you are leaving this room. We need to talk about this-this, this _machismo_!"

Machismo?

"Machismo?" It was Baron that had asked. Ilana nodded, surely, hands on her hips, below her partially visible waist since her short shirt had rode up.

"You two were out of line. You're suppose to be Galalunian soldiers, the most elite on our planet, yet you still engaged in a childlike scuffle with those brutes!"

"What is…machismo?" persisted Baron, eyebrows wrinkling in confusion. Lance barely heard either of them, dark eyes focused on the pale skin of the princess' waist. Ilana looked partially sorry for Baron and partially exhausted. He had only been on the planet for a day, and he was already a handful, both directly and indirectly.

"It means, it means-!" She groaned and crossed her arms in frustration, slightly jutting out her hip. Baron raised an eyebrow. Lance continued to stare at her waist.

"I was protecting you Princess. My apologies if it fell out of line." With that, Baron slid off from his seat to fall into the formal kneel, forearm balanced on one knee, opposite fist to the ground, and eyes downcast. If anything, this made Ilana look like she just kicked something as cute as Mushy. After all, it was Baron's first day on Earth, surely Lance was just as bad when he landed as well.

"It's okay," she surrendered. "Just, don't attack anyone unless I say so. Those people were not worth it. Are you okay?"

"Of course. The corporal looks like _he _is the one wounded." Typical. Ilana finally brought her attention to Lance who was slouched over, eyes not even on her. She frowned. She didn't like the look in his eyes. It was like…like he wasn't really there.

"Lance?" Hearing his name, Lance's eyes snapped up to her's, looking momentarily surprised before folding back to disinterest.

"I'm going to bed," he announced, standing up and moving to walk past the princess. He knew he would be leaving her alone with Baron, but right now, he - he didn't trust himself. Everything was jumbled, nothing was right anymore.

"Lance," pressed Ilana, eyebrows furrowing and wide eyes watching him leave. She made a motion to grab his hand, to hold him back, but he immediately brushed her away.

"I need to be alone." The princess pursed her pink lips, unconsciously wringing her hands as he walked up the stairs without even glancing at her.

**:::**

**Yeah, yeah, I know Lance could've solo'd Mike's entire gang, but he was just getting his frustration out on Mike by scuffling around with him. Yep.  
**

**And I've noticed the gaining popularity of Baron/Ilana in the fandom, haha. Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it since I think Baron's a jerk with a heart of jerk, but it does prompt jealous!Lance, so it's all good. I suppose this means some Baron/Ilana in the next chapter since Lance is sulking in his room, but who knows, hmmm.****Though, I think I should stop with the fight scenes LOL. I think I've had one almost every chapter, and I don't really like writing them hehehe (though, for some reason, they just seem to move the plot). Sooooo, next chapter will most definitely be a bit more "OMG FEELINGZ" orientated. I hope. **


	6. The Cake is a Lie

**Hope you all had an awesome Christmas, and if you don't celebrate, hope you had a nice day off. Thanks for all the reviews, as always! For those of you totally against Barana and for Ilanca, I'm not sure what to say since I have no idea where I'm heading with this. Sometimes stories just write themselves, hehe. Don't worry too much, just enjoy the ride lol. **

***And Navaka114, Baron was only protecting Ilana because some thug guy was all up on her (lol). If Ilana didn't step in, Baron would've just left Lance on his own. **

**:::**

Boys are stupid.

Yes, Ilana assured, they most definitely are. They obsess over silly things, like cars, and compete for almost no reason at all.

See: Lance.

Broody, secretive, and always in some sort of _mood_. And he could never sit still. Had to be doing something, had to be fighting someone.

Ilana sighed, stirring the cake batter methodically. He's gotten worse since Baron arrived.

Baron.

He was a nice guy, considerably nicer than Lance had been. No. Not…nicer. Just more respectful. She frowned, stirring more harshly. Still, respect was better than whatever Lance had treated her with in the early days. Most definitely.

"Princess." Ilana turned, cradling the batter to her chest. Baron was standing at the kitchen doorway, changed into one of his new outfits. It was simple yet he managed to wear it well, just like Lance did, a white unzipped sweater with red striped shirt underneath and black jeans, making way down to the dark lace up boots. Ilana nodded approvingly, mostly because she picked out all pieces of the outfit.

"Did you talk to Lance?" she asked, setting the batter slowly back on the edge of the stove where she continued stirring. Baron tilted his head just a bit, blond hair brushing along his face. He had nice hair, Ilana noticed. Maybe even nicer than her own.

"Yes," he answered, but it almost sounded more like a question. Ilana nodded once again and returned her attention to the batter, intent on stirring it to the perfect consistency.

"And stop calling me Princess. It's _Ilana_," corrected Ilana, smiling at the batter. In some ways, Baron reminded her of Lance. Those two really had a lot in common.

"What are you making?" Baron was right beside her, almost hanging over her shoulder as he stared into the batter, eyes narrowed in suspicion at the foreign substance.

"C-cake." Did she just stutter? Ilana tried to inch closer to the stove, all the while stirring erratically. Baron still stared at the batter. Ilana cleared her throat. Did he have to stand so close? Personal space was just as important on Earth as it was Galaluna. She's not sure if Baron got the hint but he slowly turned and made his way to the small window over the sink, staring out onto the street like some sort of watchdog. The lights from passing cars visibly bounced off him in the dimmed lighting of the kitchen.

"How is Earth treating you?" inquired Baron, eyeing a couple walk by hand and hand across the street.

"It's a wonderful planet really. I mean, it has its faults but all places do," Ilana replied, graciously adding chocolate syrup to the mix.

"I suppose," commented Baron, glancing at her over his shoulder. Ilana had gone to greasing a round pan for her cake, having already stirred the syrup into the batter so now it was a mocha color.

"Don't worry, Octus will enroll you in school—that's where we are during the day. It'll be really nice having someone else there," she said, slowly pouring her batter into the pan. Finally, she placed it in the oven, and set the time and temperature to what Octus had specified earlier in the week when she had first attempted a cake.

"Lance isn't good company?" Baron had moved to sit at the rectangular table in the center of the kitchen, back straight and hands folded neatly on the surface. There was no mockery or sarcasm in his voice. Ilana gave him a half-smile and shrug as she took the seat across from him.

"No, I mean, that's not it. He and Octus are just…hard to talk to. We're all really different," she explained, wringing her hands on the table as she stared at her pink chipped nails. Even though she and her friends got along, it was always hard for them to see her way; they weren't like her and she didn't quite understand their ways of going about things either.

"The robot, wasn't he with you on Galaluna?" asked Baron, almost too casually as he leaned forward, forearms on the table. Ilana shook her head, eyes on her hands.

"No, I'm not sure where he came from. Father, father just put me on the ship…" Her voice faded out, her solemn gaze now on the table's oak surface. Baron caught on, and subtly leaned even more forward over the table, just a bit closer.

"Your father is fine," he assured. His voice, Ilana noticed, lacked something. She couldn't really pinpoint what; was it guilt? When Lance said such things, made such reassurances, he always sounded…sorry. Baron didn't sound like anything. His voice was the same as if commenting on the weather.

"You can't be sure," bit back Ilana, surprising herself. She gave Baron an apologetic smile, but he didn't seemed to have noticed her little outburst, staring intently into her eyes, as if he were looking for something.

"I can't," he said. "But when I left, he was fine. Your father is a strong man, he will survive this and lead our planet to victory."

"What about me then, why am I here? I should be with him!" Ilana berated herself, finding it hard to meet Baron's eyes but knowing he just continued to look to her.

"He loves you," stated Baron simply. She looked up ready to come up with more questions, more problems, when he reached forward suddenly.

At that moment, Ilana knew she should have been scared. The action was sudden, swift, and Baron could have easily grabbed her throat, or had a knife in his sleeve to stab her through the eye. She should have been panicked, should have moved. But she didn't. She sat there, dumbfounded, as his pale hand reached for her face.

**:::**

Lance was _not _going to check up on Ilana. He was just thirsty. That happens. It was around 10 PM, a perfectly normal time to get thirsty. He wasn't worried about Ilana or anything.

Okay. So he was. But just a little. And by little, he meant he would go into the kitchen, spend 20 minutes looking for a clean glass, then spend another 20 minutes pretending the fridge icemaker was broken. Ingenious.

Coming up to the kitchen door, he pushed it open quietly, expecting to sort of just wander in without Ilana or Baron noticing.

They didn't.

They were—what the hell?

**:::**

Baron's hands were warm. And soft. Oddly soft.

"Eyelash," he simply said, thumb trailing along the edge of her eye to remove the stray lash. It…tickled. The feeling of Baron's thumb along her skin was foreign; no one had made much of an effort to touch her since she landed on Earth. Definitely not the kids at school, or Octus who never really saw the importance of such actions. Nor Lance, who only reached for physical contact to make sure she was safe. She never realized how much she missed skin on skin.

Neither of them said anything, yet for some reason, Ilana felt like it was too _loud_. Her heart seemed to be thumping too fast in her chest, and that was all she could hear, just that thumping. She could barely concentrate, staring into Baron's own dark eyes as his hand fully trailed along her cheek and brushed a bit of hair back.

She never saw it coming.

One minute Baron was sitting across from her, his hand upon her cheek, her heart thump thump thumping in her chest, and the next, he was being held to the floor, face first, by Lance.

"It's gone," Baron managed to get out, face plastered against the vinyl.

"Lance!" exclaimed Ilana, immediately jumping out of her seat. Everything had happened too quick, she could barely process everything that had occurred.

"I knew you were a snake," hissed Lance, tightening his grip on Baron's twisted arms. The lieutenant made some sort of snorting sound but otherwise made no move to escape the hold.

"Lance, let him go," demanded Ilana, snapping to sense and hurrying to get beside the two. Lance gaped up at her, eyes wide as if she had just told him Baron was trustworthy—wait, she already did tell him that, quite a while ago too.

"He tried to attack you," defended Lance, still putting all his weight on Baron's back. Ilana crossed her arms, giving him that disapproving look she often gave him, the one that made him feel so damn ashamed.

"He was _not _attacking me. And even if he was, I can take care of myself. Now let him go Lance."

"But-"

"No! No more buts!" Ilana was fed up. Just fed up with Lance and his paranoia. It was almost cute at first, but now, now it was beyond irritating.

"You take orders from _me_. It's my call. Mine, do you understand?" She didn't want to be strict. She never wanted to be that type of leader who would have to assert her position, but Lance just made everything so much more difficult. He gave her a pleading look, eyebrows furrowed, lips slightly parted, but she wouldn't take any of it. Seeing that her expression never faltered, Lance let up, slowly getting off of Baron's back and allowing the other man to get to his feet.

"We need to talk." This time it was Ilana who said those words, blatantly glaring at Lance. Baron watched as the two left the room, Ilana leading with a hunched over Lance following, like a kicked puppy.

The lieutenant smiled. He wondered what the cake would taste like.

**:::**

"Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?" huffed Ilana, throwing her hands in the air as she paced around the living room. Lance watched her. What was he suppose to say, she didn't even take his warnings seriously.

"Sometimes a book or phone, or _whatever_, is just a book or phone!" she exclaimed, stopping right in front of him with her hands to her hips.

"Or whatever," mumbled Lance. Ilana's eyes narrowed. Her bodyguard sighed, shoulders visibly loosening.

"Ilana," he started, looking her straight in the eyes, "I…care about you. Not just because I have to, but because I _do_." He hoped she understood what he was saying, because he wasn't quite sure he himself did. Ilana just stared at him, but she no longer looked ready to shake him by his shirt collar. Lance took this as a sign to continue.

"I just want you to be safe. Baron, he—he gives me a bad feeling. Something's not right and I can't just trust him over myself," he explained. Ilana's features seemed to soften.

"You don't need to trust him. Trust _me_." With that, she gently rested her hand on his upper arm. His skin was cool, but…but comfortable.

"Your hands are warm." Lance felt like hitting himself. Again. What a completely _wrong _thing to say, especially at this moment. It was just, when she touched him, that's all he felt, warm. Not just her hands, but he himself. A warm feeling, something he couldn't explain but could easily accept.

"Your arm's cold." They shared a smile, and for the first time since Baron arrived, Lance felt everything would be fine.

**:::**

**Is Lance falling for Ilana? Has he already fallen? What is this strange warm and fuzzy feeling? When is Octus going to get back? Was there really an eyelash? Why didn't Ilana notice how buff Lance's arms are? WILL THE CAKE TASTE GOOD? **

**So many questions, so little answers...Review with your answers/theories! **


	7. Let Them Eat Cake

**Sorry for the delay, my computer's been acting wacky on me and I have a lot of college stuff to work out ( ]: ). I'll definitely try to update a bit quicker next time, especially since this chapter isn't too exciting.**

**By the way, I uploaded a SBT vid on youtube, check it out! h ttp: / w ww. yo utu be. c om /w atch ?v= c0Xu kYNZbxw**

**:::**

"Well?"

Lance couldn't meet Ilana's hopeful gaze, and instead focused all attention on the mushy slice of cake on his paper plate, haphazardly covered with chocolate icing that look a bit too crusty. Next to him (_two feet distance_), Baron was staring at his own slice with no expression, perhaps because he didn't know what would be appropriate at the moment. Ilana kept smiling at the two, standing across the table, looking down at them with that star-eyed look of hers that made Lance want to bend over backwards for her (not literally, as Octus had explained this other Earthly idiom). He knew full well Ilana's previous _cake _(if you could call it that) didn't quite come out as planned, and was hesitant in trying this "new and improved" version, as she had called it. He hesitated, fingers hovering over the metal fork.

Baron, noting the corporal's hesitance, decidedly grabbed his own spoon, picked off a piece of the sloppy cake, and shoved it in his mouth. He chewed, rather slowly, tasting the treat. Ilana looked on, excited, and Lance was unsure of whether to glare at Baron for showing him up, or smirk with the knowledge of Ilana's terrible cake making.

The lieutenant stopped chewing, fork still in the air, eyes focused on his plate. His lips, thin and chapped with specs of the pastry, pulled slightly up. Baron had one dimple, the right cheek.

He swallowed.

"It's like nothing I've ever tasted," he said, voice dripping of what Lance would later note to be "ass kissing" (another Earth term not to be taken literally that Lance had so easily picked up from the boys' locker room). Ilana's smile wavered a bit.

"So you like it?"

"Of course," said Baron, a little too fast. If Ilana noticed, she obviously ignored it—she was a bit naïve in that sense. Lance raised one eyebrow and subtly took a smile bite of his cake.

He gagged.

"Are you okay?" asked Ilana, hearing his wheezing sounds. The dark haired man nodded, thumping his chest.

"Went down the wrong pipe," he offered, slightly out of breath. That wasn't so much the case; the cake was…definitely not like something he ever tasted before. And not in a good way.

Regardless, Lance wasn't about to hurt Ilana's feelings or make himself look like some heartless jerk compared to Baron (who might as well have been a lieutenant in _that_ department), so he took another bite of the cake and chewed, all the while nodding appreciatively at Ilana who gave him one of her wide smiles. Great, he was starting to feel guilty.

"Fantastic! I'm glad you two like it so much, there's a lot so eat up. I'm going to wait until Octus gets back before I have some. I don't want to eat all of it with you guys without letting him have a taste," she chirped, going to close the oven door that she had previously left open to allow cooling. Baron took this chance to lean back in his chair and dump the contents of his plate into a nearby plant, one of the many plastic ones that Ilana had picked out for décor. Lance watched, wide-eyed. Why hadn't _he _thought of that?

Ilana returned to the table, this time with two glasses of milk, both of which she placed in front of her bodyguards.

"Oh, I'll get you another slice Baron," she commented, realizing his plate was already empty. As she reached for his plate, Baron immediately stood up, taking it with him.

"I'm not too hungry Princess. More to the corporal as well," he said, casually placing his paper plate in the garbage and fork in the sink, all the while looking directly at Ilana. The Princess scowled.

"That's Ilana to you, _Lieutenant_," she teased, coming up beside him near the sink. Lance watched from the table, chewing roughly on his cake, eyes never leaving the pair. It wasn't just the cake making him sick.

"Shouldn't you be settling into the couch," grumbled Lance, half his cake still uneaten. Only Baron's eyes flitted to him, as if regarding a spider in the far corner of the room that one had to remember to crush. Ilana shook her head, smiling.

"Oh, no, not in this house. We have an extra room upstairs. It's a bit small but I'm sure we can get a bed in there," she explained, starting to pace around the kitchen. "Oh, and a dresser! And drapes, nice long drapes. Maybe red, do you like red?" She turned to look at Baron who was now leaning his hip against the sink. He smiled, showing his small white teeth.

"I love it." Ilana laughed, as if he made a joke.

"Me too, it's one of my favorite colors. You know, along with pink." She paused to flash him her nails, home done. "And of course, purple. And green. Teal definitely. Yellow and orange are really nice too. Oh, and who could forget blue! Everyone loves blue." Both Baron and Lance glanced at one another, eyes meeting.

Lance fancied that Baron didn't like blue at all.

"Hmm, well, we can't really do anything about the room tonight. Octus is in charge of the large amounts of money, so we'll need to speak to him about a trip to the furniture store." She flashed Baron an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but you're going to have to bunk on the couch until tomorrow. I'll get money from Octus and take you out shopping for what you'll need."

_Not without my car_, thought Lance, cake long forgotten. Ilana and Baron alone, more than five miles from him? _Not happening_.

Baron nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Goodnight, Prin-_Ilana_." As he moved to give a slight bow, Lance threw the rest of his food out and slipped out of the kitchen.

**:::**

"And then I was like _ew_, because blood was everywhere. I mean, I can totally handle horror, but not gore. Unrealistic _and _disturbing, yuck." Octus nodded at Kimmy's ranting as she swung their joined hands idly in the cool night. It was quiet as they walked through the neighborhood nearing Kimmy's house, only a few cars driving by, their headlights oddly comforting in the moonlight.

Truth be told, Octus wasn't too focused on Kimmy's movie summary, computer mind putting more processing power into opening locked files in search of Baron. So far, only one of the 34 previously encrypted files contained his name: Lieutenant Baron Richtofen. That was all it said, listed along with over 30 other names, including Lance's, of those who piloted Manus armor. How peculiar. Lance stated that Baron was demoted to private but that was not mentioned anywhere, and privates were not allowed to pilot Manus armor. Regardless, Baron didn't deny that occurrence, but implied that the charges were dropped in war time. The file hasn't been updated since two months before the war started. That explained things.

The couple slowly eased to a stop at the Sullivan residence, the patio lights illuminating their figures in front of the doorway.

"Thanks for tonight," Kimmy giggled, holding both his hands. They were warm against his synthetic skin.

"It was my pleasure," responded Newton, slightly uncomfortable. As much as he enjoyed his time with Kimmy, it was still a difficult type of relationship for someone such as him to fall into. He could analyze human emotions by their faces, but he never quite produced the correct response. The redhead's smile grew, and she perched on her toes, still holding his hands, to give him a quick peck, aware of the boundaries he mentioned when they first started dating. It didn't fizz out Newton's disguise, but it still left him speechless.

Once again, she thanked him, said she would call, and went in, leaving Newton on the patio, silent. Like all skin to skin contact, his computer processed all the information that came with it; the other person's temperature, their skin's texture, stress levels—none of it explained the odd random code that briefly flashed over his HUD.

**:::**

It took Octus 24 minutes to get home without using his speed, something he should have berated himself for but didn't. The night was…_pleasant, _and it gave him time to scan his system again while unlocking extra files. Stepping silently into the Lunis household, he shut off the security system via internal remote, as not to alert the home to an intruder. His heightened auditory receptors picked up breathing from the couch, which slightly hitched.

A moment later, Baron was aiming a flashlight at him, his wrist steadying his right hand with his pistol aimed. He was stomach down under blankets on the couch, one eye closed for a clear shot. He didn't lower his aim when he realized it was Octus.

"All your programming in check?" he interrogated, as if Octus' software was relentlessly faulty and always causing trouble. The robot, despite no reason at all, frowned as his eyebrows lowered. His Newton disguise melted into his original skin, the circuits in his blue body giving off a muted light.

"That is not your concern. Please go back to sleep." With that, Octus glided upstairs to his own room, to the bed he would lay in every night in standby. Sometimes he did rounds, walking around the house and peeking through the windows, mostly because he needed to go through files and decided that his time could also be used to patrol. He did that a lot when they first moved in.

Baron snorted and flicked the flashlight off, leaving the room in darkness as Octus receded upstairs.

Perhaps, Octus thought, tonight he would patrol as well.

**:::**

_Red. He's wearing red, the official soldier's uniform. He's a Private. Ex-Lieutenant Starling is sitting across from him drinking tea out of a dead family's antique dish like it some sort of party. He has one eye missing. It's bleeding, the blood dripping down his sunken face. He wants to know why Baron is dressed as a Galalunian soldier. Baron smiles, says something about Modula. Starling doesn't return it, the blood dripping down his stubbled chin and falling on his own uniform. _

_Starling has been eating well. Baron doesn't know for how long, but Starling doesn't have to hide it from Modula. Modula doesn't care about stuff like that. He doesn't care about much. Starling says one of the little girls had her mother's comb, sharpened with a rock. Baron smiles wider, wondering what it would be like to rip out Starling's other eye. _

Baron groaned at the sunlight stabbing his face and the sound of nearby chatter, the dream fading away as he opened his dark eyes. There was no sky to greet him or barrack ceiling; it was a popcorn textured white.

He tried to rise swiftly, but his body betrayed him, sluggish and nearly paralyzed from sleeping for eight whole hours without any sort of interruption.

"Baron!" The princess sauntered in the room, wearing blue jeans, a colorful t-shirt with a multitude of bracelets, and shiny black shoes that look like they've just been slipped on. She's carrying a piece of bread with butter on it, her other hand securing a bag over her thin shoulder.

"Here," she handed him the bread, which he took slowly, watching her in a haze. Everything was so hard to understand; it was too early and the sun was just too bright on this planet. "We gotta get to school in 15 minutes. Get dressed and you can eat in the car!"

**:::**

Secured in the backseat by the seatbelt, Baron chewed on the toast, not really enjoying it but eating anyway. He didn't really _enjoy _any sort of food, not anymore at least. He was dressed in the same outfit as last night, his hair was a strange mess, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look absolutely terrible.

"Sleep well?" mocked Lance, glancing over the front passenger seat to give Baron a smirk. Unlike the lieutenant, Lance was well adjusted to the long hours of uninterrupted sleep that he now got as a civilian. Baron shot him a glare, madly biting into his toast and chewing with his mouth open. Lance just continued to smirk, even when he turned to face forward in his seat. From next to Baron, Ilana gave the back of Lance's head a glare before offering Baron an apologetic smile.

"Your bag has everything you'll need. Here's your schedule." She reached into her back pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper and handed it to him.

"I think you only have one class without any of us. Octus already enrolled you so everything should be fine. Just," she paused, now prudent with her words, and Baron wondered when the robot got a chance to place him into this educational facility. "Just don't _start anything_." Baron didn't bother to ask what she meant but Lance was quick to jump in from the front.

"She means don't be your normal arrogant self. On Earth, that's considered rude."

"I guess she told you the same thing then too, huh?"

Ilana groaned, bringing a palm to her face, and Mr. Lunis continued driving along in the early morning traffic.

**:::**

**HUD: heads-up display; transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints (I assume a robot such as Octus would have something like this and I don't really remember any episode where we saw how he sees)**

**The next chapter's going to be interesting to write. Note the reference to the _Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal._**

**And what's with the lack of SBT fanfiction people? And fanvids! We need to step it up, fandom. :|_  
_**


	8. Ordinary High School Students

**Okay, I am _so _sorry for the delay. ._. I have a lot of irl things that need to be taken care of, but I also lost interest in SBT for a while. Luckily, the new season renewed my interest but I'm still struggling with the writing. I hope you guys enjoy this extra long chapter. Sorry if it's not on par with what I usually write- I was going to hold out longer but I know you've all been waiting long, so here it is! Enjoy!**

**(Just a little note, this story takes place between season 1 and 2. I know I mentioned something about the Kimmy/Octus study ep taking place three days before this, but in light of watching season 2, I've decided to just bump my story up a few days so that the Solomon capture already happened.)  
**

**:::  
**

"Hey guys, we have a new student. Why don't you introduce yourself?" The short teacher waved her hand at Baron and went back to the projector to set up the lesson, not at all interested in any introduction despite her earlier words. In contrast, the entire class quieted down, not accustomed to new students (the Lunis siblings were quite the talk for a few days). Lance, sitting in the back shrouded in his usual shadows of mystery, snorted and crossed his arms, already forming an idea of how Baron would introduce himself.

"Baron Lunis," Baron stated, giving the entire class a stare. Not exactly welcoming but not threatening either. Neutral. He wasn't here to make friends nor enemies. Some eyes, mostly female, snapped to Lance, who resisted the urge to deny all relation.

"Take a seat, Baron," said the teacher, still sifting through her lessons, not even considering the familiar last name. Baron glided easily through the aisles, Lance watching with a critical eye, having expected the lieutenant to go into an egotistic monologue introduction. There were two empty seats in the class, one in the very corner near the window and one in the back center. Baron took the seat near the window, a perfect place to survey the entire class and make a quick escape if needed. Lance was two seats over, a pigtailed blonde girl sitting between them, smacking her gum. She didn't hesitate to lean over when he sat down, lowering his backpack to the floor.

"Hey, are you like related to Lance?" Lance's name rolled off her tongue like some sort of exotic French pastry. Baron tried not to cringe.

"We're cousins," he answered briskly, pulling out a notebook from his bag, playing school like Octus ordered. The blonde smiled at him, red lips against her pale skin. She looked vaguely like Ilana, but her face was too round, mouth too wide, eyes too small, hair too limp.

"Do you two _live _together?" Baron took a moment to really look at her, searching her expression for some sort of accusation. Why was she so interested? Was she a threat? He didn't recognize her and he highly doubted Modula would send another soldier to Earth. Then again, Modula was full of surprises.

"Yes. My Uncle Modula is letting me study here until he gets back from," he paused briefly, conjuring up an image of a map of Earth. "Canada." He smiled, small white teeth and all. The girl didn't seem to even bat a lash at Modula's name- she was not sent from Galaluna. Not a threat.

"We're just going to watch a movie today, fill out these questions," announced the Algebra teacher, moving down the front of the room, passing out worksheets.

"Wait for me after class, I'll show you around," whispered the blonde, leaning even more forward for some reason. Baron wanted to ask why she kept blinking and tell her her shirt was slipping low, but the movie was starting and he didn't care much anyway.

By the end of the typical monotone educational math film, half the class was sleeping or nearly asleep, except for Baron who had watched attentively. It wasn't that he was so much interested but rather was sizing up the students around him and the teacher, taking mental notes for anything vaguely odd. Which was everything. Earthlings were definitely odd.

He bumped shoulders on the way out of class with Lance, and both paused in front of the classroom door to match glares. From over Lance's shoulder, Baron could make out the blonde girl coming, and took a moment to smirk at Lance before ducking out of the room, on his way to English.

**:::**

He made it through half his day relatively uneventful, seeing both Ilana and Octus in other classes. Whereas Ilana was welcoming, and introduced him to the students seated around her (to much of their annoyance), Octus didn't even acknowledge his presence. It was lunch time, so said his schedule. After that, two more classes and he was through with the excruciating day. Lessons were boring, none of it practical. Where were the shooting classes? The extended physical workouts? The politics? Hopefully the mess hall wouldn't be as monotonous and painful as all the other rooms.

It was, surprisingly, quite similar to the mess halls of his youth. The population was divided, everyone sitting with who they belonged, either rowdy and loud or quiet and nondescript. The Galalunian spotted his fellow foreigners at a table near the middle, none of them talking to one another.

"Baron!" Ilana's face immediately brightened when she saw him coming over. She moved over (though it was largely unnecessary given the size of the table) and patted the spot next to her. Across the table, Lance and Octus shared a look before going back to their meals, some sort of mush.

"How was your day?" babbled the princess, looking on eagerly, her lunch long forgotten.

"This place is a cesspool of subspecies," Baron grumbled out, eying her lunch with a wrinkled nose. Lance snorted. Like that wasn't already obvious.

"Aww, don't be like that. Lance is already the moody one in the group." Ilana giggled, seemingly more giddy than he last saw her two classes ago. "Have some of my lunch." She pushed the food toward him, but he declined, shaking his head. Ilana pouted.

"Let me buy you a soda then! It almost tastes like those calhurs on Galaluna." She didn't wait for him to accept, she just grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the seat before sauntering over to the vending machine on the other side of the cafeteria. Lance watched the pair, Ilana snuggling into Baron's arm, ranting on about the many Earth foods that reminded her of Galaluna. He stabbed at his soggy pasta.

**:::**

He hadn't planned it. He really hadn't. In fact he had his eye on the obligatory Scary Mary party due to be thrown in a week. That was when he planned to finally talk to the blond beauty that he was too shy to even look at from the back of his History class.

But it happened. He finally talked with her.

"I like Sprite, but Lance prefers Coke and Newton really likes Pepsi." That's all he heard, but Jason Friedle knew immediately it was Ilana Lunis, the girl he had been pining over since she first introduced herself in his History class.

"I'm okay with anything, Ilana." That didn't sound like Lance, and Jason let out a breath of relief, fingers sweaty against the soda machine. The blonde's brother always did make him uneasy.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Jason wasn't aware that he had been standing in front of the soda machine for over two minutes, hands on the keypad, still as a tree, waiting to hear Ilana speak again.

He punched in the number for a Dr. Pepper and quickly grabbed it from inside the machine, his arm getting stuck inside and fumbling as he tried to get his drink out. Finally, he managed to yank both his drink and arm out of the machine, stumbling back into the person behind him.

"S-sorry," Jason stuttered, immediately stepping away from Baron who had gotten between the nerdy boy and princess. The soldier glared down at the shorter boy. Jason shuddered. He was worse than Lance.

"It's okay," Ilana giggled, covering her mouth politely. Jason pressed his lips together.

"See you around." He ran away as fast as a fleeing gazelle, nearly tripping over his own two feet (which he didn't, surprisingly). Ilana waved after the strange boy, pretty sure she recognized him from somewhere else, but shrugged it off.

"You don't have to be so protective," said Ilana as she deposited the money and pressed the code for two Sprites. Baron was barely focused on her, eying everyone in the lunchroom with suspicion.

"You can never be too sure who to trust," he mumbled. The irony was not lost on him. Ilana smiled up at him, passing him one of the Sprite cans.

"Relax, Lance and Newton did the whole background check thing months ago," she commented, casually looping her free arm with Baron's once again. He didn't pull away, like Lance and Octus often would. It was a welcome change.

"It's always good to keep an eye out," said Baron, giving her an amused smile, taking her advice and dropping his watch for a moment. If what Ilana said was true, _he _was the most dangerous person here. A shark in a sea of plankton. That considerably brightened his day.

By the time the pair returned to the table, Kimmy had taken the spot across from Newton where Ilana was originally sitting, and was casting the robot a loving gaze. Newton was returning it (or at least it _looked _like he was returning it) and Lance looked like a mix between irritated and bored, pushing his pasta around on the styrofoam plate.

"Oh, hi Kimmy," greeted Ilana hesitantly, glancing at Baron who just shrugged.

"Yeah, hey Ilana, and Baron," returned the redhead, waving at the two flippantly before returning to her puke inducing "look into my eyes" moment with Newton. Ilana shrugged and took the seat next to Kimmy, allowing room for Baron to slide up next to her.

"So, how was your day Lance?" asked Ilana, more so for conversation than anything else.

"Some kid in my Bio class threw up. Augh, barf city!" responded Kimmy instead, flipping some hair over her shoulder. Lance just raised an eyebrow.

"He threw up in the hall," he said pointedly, sulking over his lunch. Kimmy rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. It was still nasty. _Yuck_."

"Why?" pitched in Baron, genuinely interested.

"Dunno. Must have been the pig we were dissecting," shrugged Kimmy, finally opening her salad she bought and taking large bites. She paused, her mouth open, ready to ask something when a group of shadows loomed over their table.

Mike Chan's suspension had finally been lifted.

"Looks like Baby Boy has more friends," announced the criminal, his group of underachievers laughing to themselves. The cafeteria was already starting to grow hush. Anytime Mike Chan walked into the room, it garnered stares. Anytime Mike Chan confronted someone, it got quiet.

The boy glanced around the table, eyes settling on Kimmy. He smirked, placing one hand on the table and leaning closer to her.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Kimmy cringed at his cigarette breath and shifted away.

"None of your business, eugh," she retorted, crossing her arms. Chan's smirk grew, but he moved away, shoving his hands in his pocket.

"Whatever, Red. What's someone like you doing hanging around Baby Boy and Soccer Mom?" Kimmy furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of what he was even saying.

"He wants to know why you're 'hanging around' Lance and I," elaborated Newton, clinical as he always was. It seemed that he was the only one not at all bothered by Chan's arrival. Upon hearing her boyfriend's explanation, the redhead glared at the young man standing above her, immediately standing up to reach his level (she was still two inches too short, even in her heels).

"_Newton _is my boyfriend, so you can just back off," she barked, pointing her finger at his chest.

"Yeah!" piped up Ilana, taking the chance to finally throw some sense into Chan's face. "And Lance is a good guy. You just _have _to make others miserable don't you? What kind of satisfaction comes from hurting others, in fact, what kind of person would do such a thing? What's the point in fighting people, what do you gain other than their pain? You should be—"

"I think he understands," interrupted Lance, standing up himself. For the first time, Chan was actually a welcomed distraction.

"Cute speech, Lil Sis," teased Chan, causing the princess to turn red in embarrassment. "And I guess I judged you too quick Red. Going out with Soccer Mom? Such a shame."

"You come here for another beating?" questioned Lance, moving in front of Kimmy to smirk at Chan. He didn't mind a fight now.

"Your boyfriend going to get in the way?"

"He's not my friend," bit out Lance. "Or boyfriend," he added, getting more irritated. Chan chuckled to himself.

"Or Lil Sis? She's a feisty one." He looked over Lance's shoulder, winking at Ilana. She blushed and scowled, scrunching her fists up. She was a princess, not some-some _eye candy_!

"Do you want to fight, or chat like a woman?" drawled Baron, still sitting comfortably in his seat, enjoying the Sprite.

"You got something to say Boyfriend?" Surprisingly, it wasn't Chan who said this but one of his friends, a white haired man in a white parka. Baron glanced up at him

"I think," he said, standing up, "That you're all too _afraid _to fight us. I think you're stalling because you know we will beat you just like we did last time."

"You have a pretty big mouth, Boyfriend," warned Chan.

"And so do you. The difference is I can back up what I say." Chan's earlier playful demeanor disappeared. The cafeteria was dead silent. Then, as if breaking the spell, the bell to signify the end of lunch rang. While the other students in the cafeteria started to slowly file out, reluctantly pulling their gaze from the confrontation, those in said conflict stood still.

"After school. The warehouse down by the boardwalk. We'll see who's scared then, bro." With that, the white dragon turned, his scantily dressed girlfriend latching on to his arm and the rest of his thugs following him out.

"What a poser," snorted Kimmy, rolling her eyes. "_As if_ we'll show up."

"He only expects Lance and Baron," remarked Newton, finally rising from his seat. "Though I agree, there's no point for you two to go."

"Wasn't planning to," mumbled Baron, finishing up his soda. Lance shook his head and turned to face his friends (Baron excluded and Kimmy questionable).

"I'm going." Ilana gaped. Then frowned. Then glared.

"Oh, no no no no no. You're _not _going. This is _ridiculous!_ You're a sold-" She stopped short, realizing that Kimmy was still with them in the empty cafeteria. "You're my _brother_. I'm not going to let you get hurt." Lance shook his head.

"If I don't show up, he'll just keep bothering us," elaborated Lance, fists clenching. That wasn't his real reason though. How are you suppose to tell the girl you're protecting that you _like _fighting? That you like to hurt people?

"Oh, puh-lease," drawled Baron, rolling his eyes. "Don't be such a hero. I'll come with you, you're going to need my help." Lance scowled.

"I'm not trusting _you _in a fight. Give me a second to be distracted, and you'll stab me in the back."

"I'm only looking out for you, _Cousin_." Ilana groaned. This was nearly the same as when they were in the living room the first night.

"I would advise neither of you go," interrupted Newton, coming to stand between them, a stern look settling on his face. "We shouldn't be wasting our time with Chan." Lance gave his friend a pleading look.

"You understand though, that if we don't do anything, he'll just keep on us?" Newton frowned slightly. His machine logic couldn't deny that.

"Yes," the robot finally responded.

"Newton!" fumed Kimmy, placing her hands on her hips, giving her boyfriend a disapproving look. "You can't be really supporting this."

"Kimmy," started Newton, nervous under her eyes, "you don't know the whole story. Mike Chan is insistent on hurting Lance. Yesterday he fought him outside the mall." Lance furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He never told Octus that. Hearing this, Kimmy's eyes widened.

"That was you?" she asked, looking at Lance. "I heard there was a brutal fight outside the mall but..." She nodded in understanding.

"If he's been jumping you like that, then yeah, you _should _kick his ass!" The aliens gaped at her sudden language and change of opinion. "Don't take that from anyone," she continued, as if talking to herself. "He's asking for a fight, we'll give him one." Lance raised an eyebrow. Since when was this about her?

"You're not going Kimmy," asserted Newton, looking out for his girlfriend's protection. She scowled at him.

"Why, because I'm a _girl_? Trust me, I've been in my own fights before," she remarked, crossing her arms. Newton chose not to respond in fear of his girlfriend's temper.

"Why are you all supporting this?" exclaimed Ilana. "We shouldn't even be having this discussion. We should be in class!"

"You don't have to worry, no harm will come to you," said Baron, as if that was some comfort. Ilana shook her head. "That's not the point! None of you are going to that fight. I-I won't allow it!" With that, she crossed her arms in finality.

"What are you, our mother?" countered Kimmy, unaware of how much Ilana's say had among her friends. "The world isn't all puppies and rainbows, Ilana. Mike Chan isn't the type of guy to back off. He's been here before you, and I _know _his methods. If he's been messing with your brother for a while, he won't just stop because you ignore him. I know you're afraid he and your cousin could get hurt, but I'm sure we can all work out a plan." Ilana inwardly groaned. She wasn't afraid for her bodyguards, but rather the attention their brawl would receive and the consequences for their identities, not that she could tell Kimmy any of this lest she reveal their alien status.

"I just don't think it's the best idea," the princess sighed. She looked up at Lance, lips pursed. "Is this really what you want to do?" She glanced at Baron. "Both of you?" Lance nodded surely. Ilana looked to her robotic protector.

"Newton?" The large alien paused for a moment, processing all the possibilities. He nodded once.

"Mike Chan is becoming a nuisance. Dealing with him now would be best." He paused once again. "And I need to look out for Kimmy." The redhead pouted but nonetheless was flattered by her boyfriend's protective nature. Ilana facepalm'd.

"Great. So we're all agreed that after school we're going to get into a fight with a bunch of street thugs?" There were nods all around.

Ilana sighed.

"I hope we get back home in time for me to finish my homework."**  
**

**:::**

**How will the fight go? Will Kimmy find out about our friendly neighborhood aliens? Who is the strange white haired man? When will I stop forcing myself to write fight scenes?**

**Guest appearance by Jason and return of Mike Chan ohohoho. I know you all must hate him but he's such a great plot device. I can only imagine the bore this chapter would be without him. ;D (And to clear up confusion, he was bailed out of jail by his rich parents. Yeah.)  
**

**Now I need all your help! I have no idea what more team bonding moments I should have, but I know I want to follow most of second season (of course, the events will probably be way different because of Baron's arrival). Maybe I'll do a flashback chapter, maybe a Baron-focus chapter, idk. What would YOU like to see? I'll take it all into consideration.**

**And why is SBT getting canceled? Pick up the pace! More fanfics/vids/watevs!  
**

**calhurs: (n) some kind of made up Galalunian drink that tastes like soda ;D**

"**Why didn't Octus lay a smack down on Chan for hittin' on his woman?" Octus doesn't seem to really care for anyone making moves on Kimmy (as seen in the Bloody Mary episode- which didn't happen yet, but it still shows he's not threatened like most guys are).  
**


	9. Son, I Am Disappoint

**Yaay, another chapter! A bit of humor and character exploration this time. And another guest star! Who could forget about them.**

**And to respond to Jason Black's review since I feel it needs to be addressed: Yeah, I've noticed how ridiculous a Manus beating a Mutraddi creature is after seeing the last couple of episodes but I do have a reason for it which may help make it work. xD I'll try to hint at it later on since I wasn't sure where to slip it in this chapter. It's just that when I started writing this story I didn't realize how big the power gap was.**

**:::  
**

"You're late," grumbled Mr. Muller as the Lunis siblings and cousin stumbled into to class, pulling at their scratchy gym uniforms.

"Sorry, Mr. Muller," piped Ilana standing at attention, trying to ignore the fact that her gym shorts were riding up her butt. Why didn't she just choose the sweats instead? A few of the girls in the back of the class crowding the gym giggled.

"Save it Lunis. All three of you missed warm ups. Ten laps around the gym and detention after school for all of you," ordered the bearded man. Ilana opened her mouth to protest but Lance interrupted.

"We were showing our cousin around the school. He's new," explained Lance calmly, gesturing to Baron who was wearing Lance's extra gym uniform (which Lance had neglected to inform him that he had not washed in a month). Mr. Muller muttered something under his breath and started looking up and down his attendance. He started grumbling some more.

"Does he have a name?" the teacher barked, pulling out his pencil to put Baron on the roster.

"Baron Lunis," filled in Baron, slowly moving closer to his "family."

"Freakin' kids coming in late," grumbled Mr. Muller, furiously scribbling in his name. "Now run. I'll rethink the detention." Ilana sighed and followed her two bodyguards around the large gym. It wasn't that she hated running, she was pretty fit thanks to her father's training, but she was sure Mr. Muller had a bad opinion of her which was something unacceptable in her book.

"Is he always like this?" asked Baron, barely breaking a sweat as they started on their second lap.

"Always," replied Lance.

"You get use to it," supplied Ilana even though she still tried to stop the abrasive gym teacher from yelling at her from time to time. Baron nodded.

"So what's the plan on taking care of that loser with the big hair?" he asked around the fifth lap. Ilana furrowed her eyebrows.

"Chan? Well knowing him, he'll probably have his entire group of degenerates ready to jump us at that warehouse," she mused.

"Which won't be a problem," remarked Lance. He could take on highly skilled Galactic Guardian Group soldiers, a couple of street thugs were nothing. Still, he frowned, Ilana could get hurt in the confusion. After finishing their laps, Lance pulled Ilana aside before she could join the rest of the class in volleyball.

"Ilana, you shouldn't come afterschool," he said, placing one hand on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"And let you guys run around beating up people? I don't think so."

"I thought you didn't want to do this?"

"I didn't want _you_ to do this," she corrected before frowning and furrowing her eyebrows. "You don't seem like yourself Lance. What's going on?" The dark haired boy turned away, letting his hand slip from her shoulder.

"I-"

"Hey, are you two coming or what?" popped in Baron giving the two a suspicious look before smirking slightly.

"Am I interrupting a _tender moment_?" he teased, right before Lance's arm shot out and hit Baron in the nose. The flaxen haired boy yelped and grabbed the injured area, glaring at Lance.

"Sorry, it's a large target," insulted Lance before hurrying to join the volleyball game. Baron grumbled something under his breath while Ilana tried to hold in a giggle.

"He didn't mean that," she appeased, smiling at Baron.

"It didn't hurt," defended the lieutenant , slowly removing his hand from his bruised nose. "How does it look?" Ilana tried once again to hide a giggle.

"It looks fine," she replied, putting her hand to her mouth again to cover her laughter. Baron went cross eyed for a moment to examine his nose before shrugging slightly.

"Let's play against Lance's team," he suggested, reaching out for Ilana's hand. She took it. Unlike Lance's hands which always seemed to be cold, Baron's were warm and wrapped gently around hers.

"You don't even know how to play," pointed out Ilana. Baron shrugged.

"I can learn," he said before giving Ilana a wink and pulling her towards the set up volleyball nets.

**:::**

The game had turned into basically Lance versus Baron, both stealing the ball from their teammates and attempting to hit one another rather than score. Baron didn't seem to really grasp the concept of the game and just hit the ball whenever it came over the net, much to his teammate's chagrin. Ilana didn't really mind since she was use to Lance and Baron behaving in such a way, but the rest of Baron's team kept sending him dark looks. On the opposite court, Lance's team which consisted of girls who invited him to join were admiring his volleyball skills no matter how much of a ball hog he was being.

Baron punched the ball across the court, and one of the girls standing near the edge screamed, throwing her hands up. The ball bounced off, spiraling toward the net, and Lance jumped up to spike it right into Baron's nose. To his surprise, as Baron readied himself to return the spike, one of his teammates shoved him out of the way and caught the volleyball, abruptly stopping the game.

"This isn't fair," spoke the girl who stopped the game, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, her dark hair pulled up into a ponytail. "You're not even letting us hit the ball." Baron glared at her for shoving him and moved to grab the ball but she swiped it away.

"I don't know how you play volleyball in Canada, but here everyone gets a chance to play," she continued, her voice growing softer when she noticed the opposite team and Lance glaring at her for stopping the game. Baron raised an eyebrow. Who told her he was from Canada? He heard someone stifling a giggle and looked on the opposite court to see the blonde from his Algebra class. She waved. He glared.

"If you want to hit the ball, you should go for it. I'm just playing the game," stated Baron even though he had no idea what the game was even called.

"Yeah, just throw the ball!" snapped one of the girls on the opposing team. The dark haired girl with the ball looked slightly embarrassed but didn't move.

"No one likes a ball hog," she said calmly. Baron looked like he was about to say something but Ilana had already come between him and the dark haired girl.

"Baron's just new to volleyball," she said, smiling brightly to ease the tension. "Kayla, right?" The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Kristin," she corrected. Ilana gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. Why don't you serve and we start a new game Kristin?" suggested the princess. "And everyone should have the chance to hit the ball, right Baron?" Baron huffed and crossed his arms.

"Of course," he drawled. With that settled, Ilana returned to her position and Kristin moved to the back row to serve. The game went on, this time even Lance backed off and allowed his fangirls to get a few hits in, mostly by accident. Standing behind Baron, Ilana set the ball to him, to which the lieutenant copied Lance's earlier spike, hitting the corporal right in the face.

"Lance!" cried Ilana while Baron tried to cover up a smile.

"Sorry Cousin," he apologized, raising a hand. Lance glared at him while pinching his nose which was beginning to leak blood. Seeing the red, Ilana immediately went to her bodyguard's side, trying to see how bad the damage.

"It's fine," said Lance, still pinching his nose and shooing Ilana away with one hand.

"I'll take you to the nurse Lance," offered one of the girls on his team, already sidling up to his side. Lance leaned away and Ilana glared at the fangirl.

"Actually," started Lance, giving Baron a knowing look. "This is a good chance for me to show _my cousin _where the nurse is." _And return the bloody nose_. Baron seemed to catch on.

"Great idea Lance. You always were the smart one in the family." Ilana reached out to grab Lance's sleeve but he was already following Baron out into the hall.

"You two better not hurt each other!" she called after them, feeling more than a bit worried.

**:::**

"What's your problem with me?" asked Baron as Lance examined his nose in the restroom mirror, using some toilet paper to staunch the bleeding. There was very slight bruising but not enough that Lance cared to go to the nurse for an icepack.

"You really have to ask that?" said Lance, pinching his nose and glaring at the mirror. Baron shrugged and leaned against the sink.

"You're right. Why would I want to hear more 'Baron's evil, blah blah blah, I have really long hair, blah blah blah, my jeans are tight, blah blah blah.'" Baron was actually pretty good at mimicking Lance's voice, not that Lance would ever admit it.

"What about Ilana? How long have you been pining after the princess?" asked Baron, sending his fellow soldier an amused smirk. Lance furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm not pining after Ilana," he responded, more concerned with his nose than the current conversation. Baron raised an eyebrow.

"That's good. I think she likes me," commented Baron examining his fingernails. Lance glanced at Baron.

"Ilana likes everyone."

Baron glanced up at Lance, choosing his words carefully. "Really? Does her face flush and heart quicken when you touch her too?" Lance looked away from the mirror to fix Baron with a glare.

"You don't touch her." Baron smiled.

"I do. She likes it." Lance pushed Baron into the wall, forearm on his neck, bloody napkin falling to the floor. Despite the position, Baron's smile never wavered.

"Don't think because I haven't killed you yet that we're _buddy buddy_," warned Lance. "I _know _you're planning something. People like you never change. Stay away from Ilana."

"You always did strike me as the jealous type," observed Baron before easily pushing Lance off of him. "You can't have her so you don't want anyone else to have her, isn't that right?" remarked Baron, smoothing the collar of his t-shirt.

"My job is to protect her, especially from scum like you," explained Lance, smirking slightly. "How long did it take you to gain back some of your non existent dignity after that Manus violation? I heard you were banned from the Royal Guard. Even Daddy's position couldn't get you there, could it?"

"At least I had a father," countered Baron, frowning. Lance didn't stop smirking.

"And how did he feel about his son's illegal actions? About his son being the joke of his generation? At least no one expected anything from me. Bet your dad was real upset about his only son failing," the corporal continued. "And lieutenant. What a joke. He wanted you to be a captain, didn't he? A general?" Baron glared at him, clenching his fists in an attempt to control his anger.

"My father didn't abandon me," hissed out Baron before stalking out of the restroom, leaving Lance to finish cleaning up his nose.

**:::**

_"We're so glad to have you here General. It's really an honor," welcomed Manfred Richtofen , offering Modula a seat at the long dinner table. The other nobles at the table responded with similar phrases, some raising their glasses in honor._

_"Please Manfred, we've been friends for some time. There's no need to speak with such formality," laughed Modula, taking a seat next to Manfred's son. "How are you Baron?" Baron didn't respond, just sat mutely and stared at his empty plate._

_"You'll have to forgive my son Modula. He's been on a strict training program since I pulled him from guard custody. Such a shame," said Manfred, barely glancing at his son. Modula nodded._

_"Yes, such a shame. How old are you now Baron?" The light haired boy said nothing, even as the servant came by to pile rice into his plate._

_"Answer the General, Baron," warned Manfred. _

_"Thirteen." Modula nodded, glancing at the dishes presented to him._

_"Your father told me you wanted to be in the Royal Guard, Baron. You know you can't do that anymore, right?" explained Modula, starting to cut up his steak. _

_"Yes. I was punished for my inappropriate behavior."_

_"In front of the king no less," scolded Manfred, starting to pick at his own food. _

_"Ah, but there are always opportunities. Life is full of failure. Are you ready for such things Baron?" questioned Modula, glancing down at the boy. Baron finally looked up at the General, his dark eyes lacking any sort of feeling._

_"Are you asking me if I'm ready to fail General?"_

_"I suppose."_

_"We'll see."_

**:::**

**So how do yall feel about the ending? I was trying some flashback stuff (suggested by Neji and Tenten 4ever!) to explore Baron's character a bit more so tell me what you think. I'm still irked that SBT got canceled. And what's with the lack of fanfic? Fandom, I am disappoint. **_:|  
_


	10. Fight Club

**Sorry for the huge delay! Writer's block, as usual. Not too sure with this chapter but decided to let it go. Just noticed I don't write disclaimers- are those required? If so, I don't own SBT or any of the websites/car models I mentioned in this chapter lol. Enjoy!  
**

**:::  
**

"You're _really _good at volleyball." Baron grunted out a response, sinking further into his seat during twelfth period Film Appreciation class. The pigtailed blond from Algebra kept staring at him, smiles and all.

"You should try out for the team."

"…"

"No, _seriously_, you're like, _really _good."

"…"

"I mean, almost as good as Lance-"

"Would you just be quiet," snapped Baron, giving the girl a heated glare. She looked momentarily surprised before smiling again. "You're really grumpy." Baron sighed, bringing his palm to his face.

"Look," he started, "_girl_. Let's get this straight—I don't really like you. I don't see how anyone _can _like you. Unfortunately you were cursed with lesser brain cells than most people on this pitiful planet so you can see why silence would be golden in your case, right?" The pigtailed girl just stared.

"What's your point?"

"You're _annoying_," bit out Baron, glaring at her. She stared, the light from _Apocalypse Now _moving across her face in the darkened classroom.

"I saw you and Ilana holding hands," the girl pointed out seemingly at random, pointing at Baron's hand for emphasis. Baron raised an eyebrow.

"What's you point?" he mocked.

"Aren't you cousins?" She made a disgusted face. "This is almost like _Mean Girls_."

"Yes," monotoned Baron, "we're cousins. Any problem with holding hands?" The girl made another squick face.

"It might be normal in Canada," she whispered, leaning closer to him, "But that is totally gross. Don't you guys live in the same house?"

"You know what," started Baron, "I don't think this relationship is going to work. You're chatty, I'm not, you know all about me, I don't know your name. It's just not meant to be."

"My name is Amber," supplied the girl.

"Right. But see, I don't really care. Now be quiet so I can watch this ridiculous film." Amber just stared at him before shrugging and pulling out her iPhone to text as the movie played.

**:::**

"Are you guys _sure _you want to do this?"

"Stop stalling and get in!" called Kimmy from the inside of her Accord. Ilana sighed and begrudgingly got into the back seat since Newton had already sidled up in the front with his girlfriend. Baron, uncharacteristically quiet since gym, slid in next to Ilana and Lance took the seat on her other side.

"So what's the plan?" chirped Kimmy, backing out of her parking spot. "And does anyone know the directions?" she asked, one hand on the wheel, the other fiddling with her GPS.

"Don't worry about it," said Newton. "You need to take a left and continue down Ford street. Take the right at Lovurn Avenue." Kimmy flashed her boyfriend an appreciative smile.

"I'll go in and deal with them," stated Lance, leaning forward in his seat. Kimmy "ugh"ed.

"Look Lance, we're not all here to carry your body to the hospital. We came to kick ass!" The aliens shared a look.

"I appreciate you driving me, but-"

"No," interrupted Ilana. "Kimmy's right. We need a plan. I don't trust Chan and his friends."

"The warehouse has a back entrance. It's old but not empty. Mostly filled with old packaging material and lumber equipment," recited Newton, staring out the window. "Chan expects Lance alone and from the front entrance. We can go through the back and stay hidden then proceed if needed." Ilana nodded in understanding.

"Good."

"You guys are worrying too much," grumbled Lance, sinking into his seat. This wasn't how it was suppose to be. Baron snorted, crossing his arms.

"Agreed. This is a waste of our time. Let the corporal be a hero, see where it gets him," mumbled the blond.

"Corporal?" questioned Kimmy, glancing at the trio from her rearview mirror.

"Take the next left," pressed Newton, trying to distract the redhead from Baron's slip.

"It's a nickname," explained Baron, smiling slightly. "Lance wants to join the army, did you know that?"

"Really? That explains all the fighting and buffness," mused Kimmy.

"I'm surprised he hasn't told you. What else have you all been keeping from Kimmy?" joked Baron, glancing out the window.

"Baron…" started Ilana, confused by his behavior. Kimmy laughed.

"You're right. You guys are so _witness protection_. Who did you run from, huh? Newton, are you in on this too?" teased the girl, giggling to herself.

"No, we're just us Kimmy," returned Newton, a hint of humor. "Take the next two rights, Lonrick and Park."

"No, I'm serious," continued Kimmy, her voice appropriately lacking the previous amusement. "We need to seriously have a get together regarding this! If we're all going to be friends, I'm going to need a little bit more than vague answers. That includes you Newton."

"I like chocolate icecream, what else do you need to know?" replied Lance sarcastically. Kimmy just rolled her eyes.

"I'll never get you guys."

**:::**

"A kiss for goodluck, sweetheart?" The curvy darkhaired girl sitting on Mike Chan's lap giggled, leaning in to plant a kiss on his lips, allowing her boyfriend to run his free hand along her waist and hips.

"Mike," interrupted Luke, still wrapped in the white winter parka despite the weather. "A car pulled up outside. Accord." Luke grimaced, brushing some of his white-dyed hair out of his face. Chan smirked and eased his girlfriend off his lap, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"About time."

"What's the deal, man?" questioned Luke casually as the two, with Chan's girlfriend in tow, started to head to the entrance, leaving the tall stacks of discard boxes. "You want this Lunis kid dead or just crippled?" Chan laughed a short airy laugh.

"I like him. Lot of potential." Chan stopped for a moment, causing Luke and his girlfriend to pause as well.

"He's being held down, ya know? I think it's Lil Sis and Soccer Mom." Chan took another breath of his cigarette.

"He's a killer driver," admitted Luke, once again moving to brush some hair from his eyes. "You think we can use him."

"Definitely bro, now come on." The three continued onwards, finally pulling up to where the rest of Chan's street gang was gathered, around 30 teenagers, idling away on their phones or impatiently lounging.

"This better be worth it," quipped one girl sitting atop some scrap metal, a beanie nearly pulled down over her eyes. "You're going to kick his ass, right? Not just waddle around flexing your muscles?"

"You're all here to see blood, right?" goaded Chan, making his way to the middle of the large group.

"And because you owe some of us money!" called someone from the back, causing murmurs of agreement. Chan shook his head and rose his hands to silence the crowd of anxious teenagers.

"Let's not ruin this day with stuff like that? Chill. This guy comes in, I rip him a new ass hole, and you all go home with YouTube footage. Sounds like a good deal, huh?"

"Typical." All attention was on the entrance where Lance had entered unnoticed. He strolled in, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes examining the surroundings. If they were all unarmed, taking them out should not be much of a problem.

"Baby Boy," acknowledged Chan, dropping his cigarette and stepping on it. "Surprised you showed up. And without Lil Sis too? She's a cutie." Lance tried to control his expression. This was just Chan being Chan, trying to rile him up.

"Enough talk. I win this fight, you back off," snapped Lance.

"Fair enough. I win, you're my bitch," grinned Chan, cracking his knuckles. Lance wasn't too sure what that meant exactly but nonetheless nodded.

"Whatever."

**:::**

Kimmy facepalm'd.

"Lance better not lose this," she hissed, peeking out at the scene from the numerous packing boxes and crates.

"He won't," assured Ilana. "I can't see anything." She moved closer to Kimmy who was peering around a large crate, Newton hovering over her shoulder. Dismissively, Baron sat next to Ilana, scratching the back of his neck and rolling his eyes. Jeers erupted from the location of the fight, but Baron hardly cared, glancing over at Ilana. She looked nervous, red lips pursed, petite hands clutching Kimmy's shoulder, the hem of her shirt riding up, exposing smooth skin. Baron made no effort to avert his eyes.

She was pretty, even uneasy, freckles scrunched up as she watched the fight going on. Baron took a moment to peer over the crates, seeing Lance dodge a blow from Chan, the crowd filming on camera phones, cheers filling the warehouse. He looked back at Ilana, at her exposed skin, wondering idly how she _felt_.

He didn't particularly like touching people. People didn't like touching him. Dark eyes roamed over Ilana's form.

"Princess." It was a whisper, almost strained, but enough that Kimmy took no notice. Ilana snapped her attention to Baron, meeting his hazy gaze. He reached out, fingers brushing along her jaw.

"It's going to be a mess here. We should leave," he whispered, as if sharing a secret. Ilana, slightly distracted by his thumb nearly brushing her bottom lip, looked at him wide-eyed.

"What do you mean? Lance can handle it." It was always Lance. His grip tightened on the girl's jaw before he quickly pulled away.

"You," Baron barked at Newton, grabbing him by the synthetic dress shirt. "The area is not secure. There are too many people and cameras. We need to leave." Kimmy turned at the commotion behind her, giving the group a stern look.

"Would you three quit fooling around. Lance is kicking butt!" Newton frowned, wrinkling his eyebrows.

"We're not in any danger…" he trailed off, perhaps for the benefit of sounding human. They heard the crowd let out a huge "oh", some even clapping. All attention returned to the fight, where Chan was struggling to wipe the blood coming from his mouth, eyes narrowed at the aloof Lance who had barely broken a sweat. Luke made a motion to back up his friend but Chan held up a hand, the one that was smeared in blood.

"You got some serious skills, Baby Boy," praised Chan, his teeth stained red.

"Mad?" questioned Lance, giving the thug a smirk. Chan shook his head, smiling.

"Not at all man, it's cool." Chan seemed to consider his next action for a moment, before reaching into his coat pocket, slipping out his switchblade. The metal caught the overhead lights. Lance pulled an expression of mock surprise.

"Don't think you can win in a fair fight?" Chan didn't answer, rather he threw the knife with astonishing accuracy, barely allowing Lance to dodge, only to be tackled by Chan. They rolled on the cement, Lance's head knocking into the ground, momentarily stunning him. It didn't take long for Chan to start pummeling the dark haired boy, not easing up until Lance headbutted him, sending them both rolling.

"Would you two stop making out and end this!" barked someone from the crowd, pumping a fist in the air.

From behind the crates, Baron grabbed Newton's shirt again, glaring at him.

"The area is _not _secure. Either disrupt that camera activity or we leave," he hissed, realizing that the cameras would indeed be an issue.

"Hey!" snapped Kimmy, shoving Baron in the chest, causing him to let go of her boyfriend. "Back off! You don't touch him." The two glared at one another while Ilana crawled over to where Newton was, once again scanning the fight scene.

"Baron's right," she whispered, eyes wide. "Can you send out some kind of pulse to disrupt the electronics in the area. Just make sure no one has a pacemaker or something." Newton nodded, not even looking at her.

"It should be easy enough." He frowned then, as if he has just tasted some sour food. "I should have done this beforehand." He closed his eyes, blocking out some senses to focus on the task at hand, all the while Lance and Chan were nearly bloodying the warehouse cement with their hits.

"Give up? " chuckled Lance, barely noticing the blood from his busted lip. This was what he was expecting, finally he could get all the stress out, just let loose. (Not enough though, as surely he would kill Chan if he went all out). Chan didn't even look mad.

"You ever think of joining my line of work?" the criminal asked suddenly, spitting some blood onto the floor, wiping his mouth with the edge of his coat sleeve. Lance raised an eyebrow.

"What? Violating the law?" _Been there, done that_. Chan shrugged in good humor.

"I always felt it was more like _bending _the law, you know, for the greater good and all?" Lance furrowed his eyebrows. That soundly oddly familiar.

"What the hell?" Some of those watching the fight started to groan, tapping their phones.

"Anyone else's phone just crash on them?"

"Mine did!"

"Shit, might have lost all that footage." The attention from the match was drawn to the disabled phones, voices of complaints ringing out. Lance tried not to smirk. Octus. He made a dash for Chan, but the Asian man held up a hand.

"Chill out, _Lance_." This was the first time Chan ever used his name. "I can tell you got skills, bro. Why fight when we can work together." Lance narrowed his eyes at the thug.

"You like racing, right? Cars, shit like that? I need someone who's good with that stuff and I know you won't mind _bending _a few laws for fun, right?" acknowledged Chan, slowly moving closer so their conversation could stay hushed.

"No, thanks," bit out Lance, lowering his fist. "This fight is over." He shouldered past Chan, walking toward the back entrance. Chan smirked.

"You sure? I guess you like playing house with Lil Sis and Soccer Mom." Lance stopped. He did _not _play house. He was a trained soldier. Albeit a neutered one as of now but- why was he even considering Chan's offer? He liked racing, and had no qualms with breaking a few rules, but Chan was…dangerous? He was starting to sound like Ilana. _He was starting to sound like Ilana_.

"I'll think about it."

**:::**

The trip back home was deathly silent, only broken by Ilana quietly inquiring about Lance's injuries to which he ignored and stared out the window. Baron didn't bother to strike up a conversation with Ilana, sulking in his seat. Newton was characteristically silent, as was Kimmy who focused on driving. Once they pulled up on the Lunis residence, nearly 4PM, Kimmy turned to look at the trio in the backseat.

"You gunna be okay,Lance?" She sounded genuinely concerned, which was quite the surprise, coming from someone like Kimmy. Lance nodded, but said nothing, as was his nature. Sighing, Kimmy glanced at Newton.

"I wasn't lying when I said I need to get to know you all better. Come around my house tomorrow night, 7 okay? We can all hang out." She didn't wait for a response, unlocking their doors from the front. The Lunis family piled out of the back, not in any mood to make up some excuse, and just as Newton made to leave, Kimmy grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait, Newton." He gave his girlfriend a questioning look. She pursed her lips.

"You shouldn't let guys like Chan or Baron push you around. You're too much of a pushover sometimes, you know?" Newton didn't understand the term pushover but nodded nonetheless.

"It's not a problem, Kimmy. People often act that way because of their own inadequacies." Kimmy laughed lightly and Newton smiled at that. He liked it when she laughed at the (unintentional) jokes he made. The laughing subsided and the redhead glanced at the Lunis household.

"Yeah, that Baron rubs me the wrong way. I don't think you can try to _not _bring him tomorrow night?" Newton shrugged.

"He's family. We'll see." Kimmy smiled the smile she reserved for him, small but very telling. She leaned in to kiss him on the lips, one hand balanced on his shoulder.

"Just," she said, as she pulled away and Newton made to exit the vehicle. "Don't let people boss you around all the time. You're not some sort of robot just there to act on their whims." She waved her hand flippantly to illustrate these "whims". Newton offered her an apologetic smile.

"You're very kind, Kimmy," he said softly. "Good bye." The redhead blushed before giving him a small wave.

**:::**

When Newton entered the house, he was confronted by an irritated Baron who gestured at Lance sitting on the couch as Ilana wiped the blood off his face.

"What was he and Chan talking about towards the end of the fight? I know you picked it up," demanded Baron. Newton, for once, glared at him.

"That is not your concern." The robot walked around, heading for the stairs, but Baron blocked his path.

"What's wrong with you," he asked, searching the fake human face with suspicious eyes. "Who do you answer to? What does your programming say." The human disguise faded out to be replaced by the blue form that was wholly Octus.

"I don't take orders from you." Baron glared at him before glancing over his shoulder at Ilana.

"Ilana." He didn't even have to ask. The princes pursed her lips and glanced at Octus from her cleaning.

"Don't push it Baron. If it was important, Octus would let us know, right?" She was looking at her robot bodyguard with half-pleading eyes. He was starting to grow farther from her, it felt like they haven't talked in ages. There was no expression on the blue translucent machinery. Lance looked up as well, giving Octus a look he could not read clearly.

"Correct," was all the robot said before retreating upstairs. Ilana sighed before rubbing some more alcohol on Lance's torn lip, gently cupping his face with her other hand.

"We should put some makeup on you to cover the black eye," she mused, dark eyes flitting across his face. Lance didn't respond, watching her lips. In that moment, he felt like kissing her. Just a quick peck, just to know how it felt. He didn't.

**:::**

_"Modula sent me." Ex-Lieutenant Starling quirked his lip, watching Baron take a seat across from him in his last victim's home. It was small, but ornate, the drapery beautiful and the dishes antique with design. _

_"Not here for a social visit, Barry?" mused Starling, rubbing his stubble, leaning back into the printed couch. Baron rolled his eyes, handing Starling a roll of parchment._

_"Your next assignment. Rebels suspected of being housed by Lilith Freund. She was married to a Duke in the King's circle," recited Baron. Starling raised his one eyebrow, looking over the sheet. He smiled._

_"Why are you dressed as a soldier, Barry?" He gestured at Baron's pressed uniform, smudges of dirt here and there. _

_"Why are you missing an eye?" smirked Baron. Starling smiled._

_"The last little girl I ate had her mother's comb. So dangerous, little ones these days." Baron stopped smiling. _

_"I'm to...be acquainted with the princess." There's always an air of formality when talking with ex-lieutenant idly rubbed the edge of his bandaged eye._

_"Princess Ilana. Sweet girl. I'd love to see her again."_

_"So you can eat her too?" Baron didn't bother to hide his disgust. Starling shook his head._

_"No, not her. Never her."_

**:::**

**We got to see the schism building between Newton/Kimmy and Baron, and Lance contemplating the darkside this chapter. Oh, and a bit of Baron and Lance's awkward feelings toward Ilana, who seems to be the only one not pissed at anyone haha. And Octus seems to be drifting from the group hmhmhm, and where are the Mutraddi attacks? Perhaps Baron's presence has something to do with that...**

**Hope ya'll liked it. Hopefully a team bonding chapter next (a lot of which I previously wrote so hopefully a quick update). Let me know any crazy hijinks the group should get up to. Comments are loved! (Remember to check out my deviantart for some SBT artz. Here's a cute group one ohoho- Baron's such a player : htt p:/ /solid snail. devia ntart. com/ art /SBT -yea- 2080 01578 ) **


	11. Kissing Cousins

**Sorry for the huge delay, I had a lot of college stuff I needed to work out. It's finally winter break and I have a month off, so hopefully, updates will be more frequent. This chapter isn't quite that good, considering both parts were written at completely different times so the tone seems a bit off, but regardless, here it it. I don't own SBT.**

**:::**

Two o' clock.

Lance woke up with a start, eyes wide, panting in a cold sweat. As usual, there was no true purpose for his sudden awakening. The young man tried to calm himself in the silent room, taking deep breaths. With a final sigh, and quick scan of his room to make sure nothing was wrong, Lance moved to place his feet on the cold hardwood floor of his room. A drink of water would help.

The corporal trailed down the dark hallway of the Lunis household, passing Ilana's door on the way downstairs. It was a bit open, and in the moonlight from her bay window, Lance could make out Ilana's form on the bed. Without a moment to process exactly what he was doing, Lance silently pushed open the door and slipped into the room. He quietly padded over to the sleeping princess, wrapped in a light sheet, the straps of her nightgown revealing her thin, almost bony shoulders. There, just jutting out, small bumps that indicated bone, and along her back, before her nightgown covered it, the bones of her spine, just barely noticeable.

For just a moment, Lance felt sick to his stomach. All he could see was her bones, how _easy _it would be to break them, to hurt her, to make a mess of things. He stepped away from the bed, looking to the window, out at the moon. Since when did he see her like that? There was a time, after his first kill, where everyone became flesh, and bones, and blood, and all he could see in women was death. He supposed that's what anatomists saw- not a pretty woman, just a body of organs.

"Can't sleep?" Octus was standing behind him, but as Mr. Lunis, perhaps to put on a show since the curtains were drawn open. Lance shook his head and continued to stare up at the moon.

"Has Ilana lost weight?" It was the first thing that came to mind. He hoped it would explain why he could only see her mortality when seeing her now. Octus stared at Ilana for a moment.

"No. She's gained two pounds," responded the machine. Lance didn't chance glancing over at Ilana.

"Are you patrolling?" Lance asked instead, quiet so Ilana would not wake up and make a fuss about them being in her room.

"Yes. I find Baron's presence to warrant a few nights of monitoring," explained Octus. Lance looked over his shoulder at the robot.

"So you finally see it my way?" He couldn't help but sound triumphant, eyes nearly lighting up. Octus just stared at Lance, or at least it looked like he did.

"People change, Lance. I…don't trust Baron, nor do I distrust him. My feelings on the matter are strictly neutral. He hasn't done anything to raise my concerns." Octus's flat tone caused Lance to glare, somewhat annoyed that his friend was so practical. He turned and moved closer to Octus, lowering his voice, but the tone now sharper.

"What about when he defeated that Mutraddi creature. How convenient for him to just be able to destroy it upon showing up, huh? Doesn't that strike you as the least bit suspicious?" Octus seemed to consider this for a moment.

"I did find that strange. It seems to be almost impossible for just a Manus armor to destroy such a creature…" Octus trailed off, for once having no answer for the strange event. Lance nodded, serious.

"Exactly. My thoughts? Whoever is sending the Mutraddi also sent Baron, probably to kill Ilana when she least expects it."

"That makes sense. But Baron has had several opportunities to hurt her, none of which he has acted upon." Logical, as always. Lance inwardly groaned, massaging his temples with his fingers.

"He's obviously trying to gain her trust. Make her depend on him, care about him," stressed Lance, not sure there was any other way he could tell Octus this. The robot just stared blankly at him. He looked ready to say something, then paused, just as Ilana mumbled in her sleep, turning onto her stomach. Both her bodyguards were dead silent for a moment, both very aware that their charge could awake at any second. Sharing a rather professional nod, they both left the room, neither making a sound as they shut the door.

"I'll keep an eye on him," related Octus once they were in the hall. "But until you have solid evidence that he should be considered a threat, I suggest you don't get into any more fights with him."

"You _suggest?" _Lance tried his best to not roll his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"I know you're going to do it anyway," shrugged Octus, and Lance said nothing to deny this.

**:::**

It was 7 PM when the Earth bound Galulunians pulled up behind the Accord in the Mysner driveway, the sun already set and the fall air cool yet comfortable. The entire day had been filled with awkward silence, no one, not even Ilana, quite chatty at breakfast or lunch. Kimmy nearly skipping to their table to remind them about dinner at her place was subtly unwelcome, but politely accepted, mostly on Newton's behalf.

"I still don't get why we had to come," grumbled Lance as the three teenagers and one robot shuffled over the lawn and up the front porch. No one, not even Baron, responded to him, all probably feeling the same way. It was obvious Newton wasn't exactly ecstatic about this short notice bonding time, but cared enough about his girlfriend to go along with it – and unfortunately, going along with it meant the entire Lunis family was invited as well.

A few seconds after the doorbell was rung by the ever punctual Newton, Kimmy pulled open the door, grinning at her guests, particularly her boyfriend.

"My dad actually set the stuff on the grill already. He and my mom went out to eat so we have the whole house to ourselves!" piped Kimmy, dragging Newton into the room excitedly, ignoring the three other aliens. Newton didn't really understand why being home alone was so exciting for her—if anything, it was more dangerous. From behind him, still standing at the door, Lance, Ilana, and Baron shared a look, looking both disgruntled and severely out of place.

"Get in here!" snapped Kimmy, popping her head from around the hall corner to fix the trio with a glare. "And close the door!" Baron rolled his eyes and reluctantly shut the door behind him, following Lance and Ilana through the spacious house. They passed several ornamental vases with flowers, all of which Ilana eyed with too much interest, Lance cringed away from, and Baron totally ignored. Finally, they reached the large living room with the patio door wide open, letting in a breeze. On the deck, Kimmy was piling barbeque chicken into a plate for her boyfriend, which he graciously accepted, though subtly analyzed with his calculating eyes. Sensing eyes watching her, Kimmy turned to glare at the three again.

"Would you guys quit standing around like idiots? I invited you for a reason!" She started to set plates out for them on the patio table, nearly breaking them as she slammed them into the plastic. Baron raised an eyebrow.

"Idiots?" he questioned, glancing to Ilana for a response. She grimaced.

"It's an insult."

"That actually fits you pretty well," added in Lance, smirking at Baron over the top of Ilana's head. The princess scowled and elbowed her bodyguard.

"Enough of that. We should _try_ to enjoy tonight, for Octus at least," she sighed. "Now come on." With that, she grabbed one of their hands with her own and led the two outside the patio doors, already expecting the night to be a disaster.

"So, I heard you were from Canada," commented Kimmy idly, stirring the straw in her pink lemonade. It was like a scene out of a television show, Ilana noticed. Hanging lights around the clean cut backyard, the smell of barbeque in the air, and five friends gathered around the patio table, eating without a care. Except they weren't exactly friends and Ilana knew everyone except Kimmy had one or two problems on their mind.

Baron furrowed his eyebrows, taking a bite of his crisp chicken to stall. When did he tell her that?

"My friend Amber told me," elaborated Kimmy, tenderly sipping at her lemonade. Unlike her guests, she barely touched her chicken, rather going for the barbequed corn. Baron's blank stare did not leave his face.

"She's in your Algebra class," stressed Kimmy. Ah. The blonde. Baron nodded once.

"Yes. My uncle thought learning in America would be much more accommodating," Baron easily lied, leaning back in his seat and taking a swig of his water bottle. If anything, he seemed better at lying than telling the truth, his voice taking on this _oily _type of tone, smooth, inviting, the sort of voice you _wanted _to believe.

"Your uncle? So Lance and Ilana's father?" questioned Kimmy innocently. This caused an abrupt shift in the mood, as both Ilana and Lance involuntarily tensed at the thought of their respective fathers. As if sensing their sudden emotional change, Newton stepped in to avoid the topic.

"It's an uncle in law. Can I have more lemonade honeymuffin?" The redhead immediately perked up, bouncing out of her seat.

"Of course," she smiled, leaning over quickly to peck him on the cheek before slipping back into the house.

"Since when were you from Canada?" bit out Lance in a low voice, glaring at Baron from across the table. The blond looked mock surprised.

"I wasn't aware I had to report every cover story to you, _Corporal_."

"It would be best if you tell me. I keep a record of this," broke in Octus, sounding almost too relaxed, nearly uncaring. Baron glanced to his left, taking in the robot's appearance. He rolled his dark eyes.

"Of course. My apologies," mumbled the lieutenant, not sounding sorry at all.

"Oh, you two should give Baron a break," scolded Ilana, using her fork to point at Lance and Octus. None of the Galalunians were for eating with their hands. "He's new after all. I'm sure you both realize how sudden this all is." Before anyone else could get a word in, Kimmy appeared outside the house, carrying a tray of extra cups and a pitcher of pink lemonade.

"I'm thinking," she said, easing the tray onto the table, "that we should all have some fun. Truth or Dare?" The entire table gave the redhead a blank look. She pouted. They continued staring. Finally, Baron broke the silence.

"What is Truth or Dare?" Kimmy raised an eyebrow.

"They don't have Truth or Dare in Canada?" she questioned, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"No, please enlighten me," monotoned Baron, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well," started Kimmy, getting comfortable in her seat, "it's where you ask someone truth or dare. If they pick dare, they have to do anything the other person tells them to do. If they say truth, they have to truthfully answer any question given."

"Any question?" asked Ilana, eyebrows furrowing in slight worry at the kind of trouble this sort of game could bring for the aliens. Kimmy nodded, smiling. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, this was her way of finally getting information on their suspicious behavior, including the constant group trips to the bathroom. And it would be fun. _Very fun._

"How can you tell if we're not lying?" questioned Lance, arms crossed and sulking in his seat. He looked absolutely miserable but Kimmy didn't seem to notice, her smile growing.

"It's based on the trust system. And it's really obvious when someone lies," she answered. Lance smirked slightly.

"Looks like you can't play Baron. I know you're terrible at telling the truth," he said, giving the blond a glare. Ilana elbowed him in the ribs again, all the while maintaining a smile as if nothing happened. Kimmy gave the Lunis family an odd look before brushing the weird interaction off.

"So, we're all playing, right?" perked up Kimmy, looking around the table for everyone's reaction. Lance and Newton seemed to share a look, Ilana "erm"d, and Baron sipped his pink lemonade, disinterested.

"Sure Kimmy," Newton finally answered, the ever faithful boyfriend. This seemed to set off a fuse for the redhead whooped and pulled her chair closer to the table.

"Okay, okay, I'm going first." She paused to look around the table once again, this time for her first victim. Baron continued to sip his drink, Lance returned to his grouchy position, Newton was waiting patiently, and Ilana looked terribly uncomfortable.

"Ilana!" piped Kimmy, pointing to the girl. "Truth, or dare?"

Ilana pursed her lips before replying tentatively, "Truth." Kimmy smiled like a shark.

"Is your hair natural?" The backyard was silent, the only sound the crickets. Ilana furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes?" Kimmy nodded to herself and leaned back in her seat.

"Good to know. I thought it was bleached and all," commented Kimmy flippantly, and Ilana let out a breath of relief. If this was the sort of game Kimmy was playing, then there was no reason to be concerned.

"My turn?" asked Ilana, starting to relax. Perhaps attending this "dinner party" was actually a good idea. Kimmy just smiled and nodded. Ilana eyed her fellow aliens before pointing at Lance.

"Truth, or a dare, Lance," she asked, giving him a smile, a subtle way of suggesting he lighten up. The corporal just scowled and seemed to sink even more in his chair.

"Dare," he grumbled. Illana's smiled widened.

"Dye your hair. Blond. Like Baron." Lance seemed to choke on his saliva, and fell out of his seat, all the while Kimmy and Baron tried their best not to laugh. Lance continued to make choking sounds on the ground before finally pulling himself, and his chair, back up, and getting situated again. He took a deep breath, looked Ilana straight in the eyes-

"No."

"Lance!" barked Kimmy, glaring. "Don't be a funcrusher. You do what the dare says." Lance shook his head.

"Yeah, think of it as an improvement," added Baron, leaning back in his seat, arms behind his head. Like Ilana, he seemed to have taken the hint and entered relaxing mode.

"Your hair color is _hardly _an improvement."

"Trust me, it would do you good."

"Lance, come on," pressed Ilana giving him a hopeful smile. "It doesn't have to be permanent. And if you promise to follow through with your hair, Baron will have to do anything you ask of him." This seemed to catch the soldier's attention, and in a second, Lance was all smirks.

"Fine," he said, his tone settling, now complacent. "I'll _temporarily _dye my hair blond." It had been settled, and at that moment, all bars were gone.

"Baron, dare?" Both soldiers had entered their own world again, meeting eye to eye, almost as if they were seconds away from punching each other in the throat. Which they probably were.

"Truth." Baron gave Lance a shark smile, and Lance, surprisingly, returned it.

"What do you think of Ilana? Truthfully, of course." Baron narrowed his eyes at Lance. Was he honestly expecting the truth? And if not, what angle was he working? Ilana looked just as confused, and Newton glanced concerned at Kimmy, who was starting to look a bit uncomfortable.

"What do I think of her? I think she's a beautiful young woman who-"

"Hold up!" Kimmy slapped her hands on the table, eyes wide, somewhat green colored. "_Please _tell me you guys are playing a sick joke on me. Or that you're not really related. _Please_." Baron and Lance just stared at her for a moment, before it set in that Ilana was considered Baron's cousin, and that Kimmy was no where near privy on the truth of the Lunis family.

"Yes. It's a joke," said Baron, finally breaking the silence, smiling. If Kimmy felt any unease about his smile, she brushed it off, settling back in her chair with a sigh.

"That's a relief. You guys know you can tell me if you're not related or something, you know? It's really not that weird being adopted nowadays..." she trailed off, giving the group a _look_. As if this was one of their chances to fess up about all the weird things that generally occurred around them. None of the aliens dared reveal anything, and as if Lance's question was never asked, Baron nodded in Kimmy's direction, turning the attention on her, and hopefully distracting her.

"Truth or dare?" he asked in a clipped tone - it was rather obvious he didn't really like Kimmy, and it was starting to show.

**:::**

_He can't help but roll his eyes. She's pretty enough, he admits, but girls were _gross_, and there was no way he was going to talk to her, no matter how much his father pushed. Princess Ilana is sitting at a small table, with other daughters of noblemen, all pretending to be at some dinner party, laughing in that girly high pitched tone that Baron hates._ _There is a white haired guard hovering over her shoulder, nearly still, but eyes wandering around the room now and then.__ There are other boys his age around, but Baron isn't one who talks to people to make friends, and thus, the nine year old leans into the shadows of the large room, near one of the guards who is watching over the children while the King meets with their parents, regarding this and that about politics and whatever it was adults discussed. _

_Baron wishes he was with his father, __hearing the little girls laugh that annoying laugh again_. _A group of boys run past him, playing some sort of game they would never think to play in front of their respectable parents. But they do so in the safety of this children's land, lacking in high, expensive chairs, rather replaced with dolls and miniature Manus armors and plastic rifles. He sighs, one hand brushing his short hair. He scowls. His father made him shave it the week before, saying it was getting too long, Baron was looking more and more lady-like. The door suddenly opens, and the kids stop there play, glancing over to see a tall man with glasses and long coat. He looks familiar, perhaps one of the King's scientists, and gestures for a boy in the corner to come along. The child is dark haired, small looking, and, Baron notes with disgust, holding some sort of toy bear in his arms. __Baron nearly mistakes him for a girl, long soft looking hair that is so unlike Baron's scratchy unfavorable buzzcut. The boy quickly reaches his father, eager to leave, having been holed up in the corner, unlike the other little boys in the room, so blended into the wallpaper that even the observing Baron hadn't noticed him. _

_"What do you say, Lance?" asks the father, pulling attention to the duo. The boy shyly looks over at the Princess, who has stopped her pretend party and is looking at the father and son with one of those small, practiced smiles._

_"Thank you, and goodbye, Princess," says the boy, before bowing slightly, red in the face from the attention on him, and hurries out, his father sending the Princess a respectful nod before he too leaves. Baron looks over to the Princess, and is surprised to see she is still looking at the now closed door, the small smile now a giggle, genuine. Baron scowls. That was the problem with girls. Other than being gross, they always paid more attention to bumbling fools, probably because they provided more entertainment._

**:::**

**I promised myself no truth or dare, but Kimmy is totally the type of person who would play it, if only to get information out of people. The irony is that the aliens are rather good at lying so this sort of thing should be no big deal, right? And is Lance really going blond? Sure, why not? This fic doesn't exactly have a fixed path since I'm sorta adding Baron to the mix that is season two and shaking (meaning I'll try to go through season two, with Baron generally being Baron - but considering I barely remember season two...maybe this will be total AU?). If you want to see anything, whether it be more Baron on Lance violence, or something silly like a trip to the beach, let me know. I write for the fans after all. **

**I do think the first part was a bit depressing, mostly because of how "bones and guts" Lance sees Ilana, but nonetheless, I do want to make this fic a bit lighthearted so hopefully lols will be added!**

**(Question: Is Baron's hair white or just bleach blond? It's kinda hard to tell from the show - I always assumed it was a bleach blond, lighter than Ilana's but not stark white...if it is actually white, does anyone mind the whole bleach blond thing? Because little things like that in fics can annoy me...**

**And Lance had a teddy bear as a kid, right? I didn't just make that up in my head?)  
**


	12. Naked Lieutenants Are Funny

**Sorry for the wait! There's some topics brought up this chapter that I would assume the show would never bring up - but they're teenagers and this fic is rated T. ****I don't own SBT.**

**:::**

"Truth." Kimmy offered Baron a smile, fake, but a smile nonetheless. The lieutenant pressed his lips together, trying to think of an adequate question before he smiled, eyes lighting up.

"How many men have you slept with?" Kimmy's eyes widened, eyebrows shooting up at the boldness of his question. Ilana responded with the same expression, looking at Baron in shock, as red started to feather along her freckles. Kimmy's boyfriend, despite his less than human person, looked visibly confused, and if one looked closely, a bit…irked. Lance seemed to be the only one unaffected by the crude question, expecting Baron to ask such a thing.

"N-none!" stuttered out Kimmy offended. "And, _ew, _why would you want to know something like that?" Baron shrugged, neither looking guilty nor ashamed of asking about her virginity.

"Just want to make sure Newton knew what kind of woman he was acquainted with." Newton's expression changed, now a glare.

"I don't think I need your opinion on my relationship, Baron," said the robot, warning the young man that such topics were off limit.

"Yeah!" piped up Kimmy, glaring at him as well from across the table, fists clenched, shaking to unleash their wrath. "And besides, that's none of your business!" Baron raised an eyebrow, utterly calm.

"Oh? Isn't that the point of this game? Ask any questions to get the truth?" Kimmy snarled at him, looking about ready to jump over the patio table and strangle him. Instead she opted to sending him her nastiest glare, practiced from years of bullying girls in the past. Baron barely flinched.

"Truth or dare?" She bit out, giving him a look of challenge. Baron smiled.

"Dare."

"Run down the block screaming," stated Kimmy, her voice betraying no emotion. Baron was about to comment when Kimmy continued, "naked."

The backyard was silent, only the sound of crickets. Then, Lance started laughing, real genuine laughing, and everyone at the table took a moment to send him a brief look of terror. Lance laughing was _not _normal.

"Fine," agreed Baron over Lance's dying laughter, standing up from his seat.

"Baron," started Ilana, eyes wide, face now starting to fully redden, "I don't think-"

"I accept your challenge," interrupted Baron, calmly unzipping his sweater and moving to pull his shirt off, to reveal toned muscles. He was just as fit as Lance, if not more, but not as slim, his waist wider. Ilana quickly hid her eyes and Lance brought a hand to his mouth to stifle another bout of laughter at the ridiculous challenge Baron had accepted. Nudity, he knew, was not something that would bother a soldier such as Baron (nor did it much bother Lance), but running down the street screaming? Kimmy's earlier anger was gone, and now she looked horribly surprised. She hadn't expected Baron to do it, and now that he was going to, she had just opened the game to new, disturbing possibilities. Newton was torn between stopping Baron from causing a scene, to allowing the lieutenant to face embarrassment—he opted to stay quiet, allowing Baron to do what he wished, perhaps hoping his embarrassment would somewhat satisfy Newton's irritation with Baron's earlier question to Kimmy.

And thus, Kimmy, Octus, and Lance watched as Baron swiftly pulled off his sneakers and started to unzip his jeans. Hearing the zipper, Ilana let out a squeak from behind her hands.

"Baron, you don't have to!" she said, her voice high pitched and nervous. She had never seen a man naked before, and wasn't quite sure what to expect, nor quite sure she even _wanted _to see. She was only 16 after all, and a princess nonetheless! The most she has seen was Lance in his boxers, but what Kimmy had suggested…what Kimmy had suggested was just unseemly!

"You don't have to watch," remarked Baron offhand, sliding off his jeans, not looking at all embarrassed or concerned. Kimmy, staring shocked across the table watched Baron's hands move to his boxers' waistband, and like Ilana, put her arm over her eyes making a noise of disgust.

"I can't believe you!" she spat out, sounding half disturbed, and half worried. This was probably her first naked man too, Ilana thought, somewhat of a comfort that she wasn't alone in this experience. Baron shrugged, though now, only Lance and Newton could see him, the former smirking and the latter simply giving Baron a raised eyebrow, as if asking _'really?'_

"I'll be back," was all the naked lieutenant said, and a few minutes after he left the backyard, the group at the table heard whooping and yelling from the street in front of the house.

Baron's naked escapade seemed to not only up the game's tension, but at the same time, make it more lighthearted. With the air let out, the limits of the game tested, everyone seemed a bit more comfortable with each other and the truths and dares. To his credit, Baron did not seek revenge (probably because he knew the limits that his fellow Galalunians expected of him) and instead asked Newton about his fears (to which Newton sincerely expressed concern over his family, sharing a private smile with Ilana and Lance, something Baron did not fail to notice), leading the robot bodyguard to question Lance about his most embarrassing childhood memory. Unsurprisingly, it had to do with being mistaken for a girl, and although Lance was reluctant to share, by the end of the story there was a small smile on his face, grasping at the sudden feeling of nostalgia. Ilana, to everyone's surprise, chose dare, causing Lance to carefully consider the best challenge for his charge. He, as expected, tread lightly, asking her to drink a mixture of the pink lemonade and milk from Kimmy's fridge.

"Laaame!" bellowed out Kimmy, to which Ilana hesitantly nodded, shoulders back.

"Yeah Lance, don't go easy on me," she joked, shooting him a smile to say that she didn't want special treatment, though obviously she didn't want to face anything to what Baron had. Lance frowned. Exactly what would be the most considerate, non considerate, dare to give the girl he was in charge of protecting. He knew exactly the type of unfit things Baron would suggest (probably trying to flower it up to make it sound not so lewd) but Lance was trying to stay on Ilana's good side. He was, after all, a respectable bodyguard, unlike Baron. Suddenly, his head snapped up in realization.

"Punch Baron in the nose." Kimmy seemed to approve of this dare, grinning ear to ear, and even Newton allowed a smile. Ilana looked at Lance with wide eyes, looking betrayed, and for a second Lance felt horrible.

"Why the nose?" whined Baron, as if the idea of him getting hit at all was no big deal.

"It's an easy target," shrugged Lance, and Ilana shook her head.

"That's mean," she defended, wringing her hands, "I can't hurt Baron, he's…" She trailed off glancing at Kimmy.

"He's my cousin," she affirmed. "I don't hit family."

"That doesn't seem to stop Lance," mumbled Baron under his breath, referring to all the times he and Lance had ended up at each other's throats.

"Come on Ilana!" pushed Kimmy. "Sure, he's you're cousin, but seriously, I'm sure you've wanted to hit him _at least_ once." Ilana bit her lip and shook her head. Kimmy looked ready to argue but was suddenly interrupted by Newton, who, unbeknownst to everyone, had perked up in the middle of their conversation and was staring off into the distance.

"We have to go to home," he said, his voice flat, lacking its usual human inflections. Kimmy frowned and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh? You guys just got here!" she whined, clutching her boyfriend's dress shirt. "Newton!"

"Sorry Kimmy," apologized Newton, actually looking terribly sorry, before easing his girlfriend off. "I just remembered we have a project we need to do for tomorrow and well, you know how school is."

Taking the hint, Lance and Ilana stood up, the latter relieved that she avoided hitting her bodyguard in the face. Baron followed suit, but the way he kept glancing from Lance and Ilana to Newton suggested that he wasn't quite sure what was going on.

"Thanks for inviting us Kimmy, we should do it again sometime," commented Ilana as she made her way to the patio door. She sent the redhead a smile, truly meaning it, for despite the shenanigans and slight tension, spending time with Kimmy almost made her feel normal. Accepted. Kimmy gave her a half-smile, but still looked upset that they were leaving so soon.

"One day you guys are going to let me in on one of these projects," she remarked, and although the Lunis household knew she had her suspicions, they did nothing but say their goodbyes (which in Newton's case, included a chaste kiss) and left.

**:::**

"Anyone want to clue me in on what's going on? Not that I mind not being hit," remarked Baron as they headed to the minivan, Octus in the lead, his gait suggesting that he was in full robot mode (yet still disguised as a human since they were in public).

"I wasn't going to hit you, Baron," said Ilana, smiling in his direction. She somewhat wished Lance had given her a more...acceptable dare. Perhaps to give Baron a hug. Yes. A hug would be very acceptable.

"Rift gate opened up approximately two minutes ago. I've pinpointed the landing to be around the woods, near the spot we landed when we first came to Earth. No reports of anything strange yet, but we better go check it out," filled in Octus, starting up the vehicle and heading down the road once everyone was secured inside. Baron furrowed his eyebrows, his lips lowering into a frown, a stark contrast to his earlier amusement.

"What?"

Lance briefly glanced over his shoulder from the front passenger seat. Something about the way Baron said that suggested that he wasn't just asking for Octus to explain in more detail. He sounded...irritated.

"That Mutraddi creature you fought on the first day came from a rift gate. They open up once and a while, sent from those who have taken over our planet. They're after me," elaborated Ilana, eyes downcast, fiddling with her watch. Baron's eyebrows stayed furrowed, eyes narrowing as he glanced quickly in Ilana's direction.

"Right. And you three fight them by forming that armor?"

"This sounds like something you'd ask on the first day," commented Lance, shooting Baron a suspicious look over his shoulder.

"Guess it slipped my mind while I was busy focusing on my real mission to protect the princess," deadpanned Baron, the furrow easing up, now replaced with a neutral expression.

"Now's not the time, Lance. We call it Titan," Ilana interrupted their impending argument. "Lance and I can combine our armors with Octus to create it. I think it's specifically programed into our watches...I mean, it's not like we had another Manus to test out if it works without Lance's specific armor." The last sentence made Lance twitch a mite. To even consider Baron taking his spot in Titan made him want to vomit.

"Octus, it's specific only to my watch, right?" asked Lance, rather desperately as Octus calmly weaved through party hour traffic, heading for the quickest route to the woody areas just outside of Sherman.

"I don't know. Your Manus' serial number is listed in my data code when we combine, but that may just be a way of logging our transformations," responded the robot, staring at the road. Lance frowned. He was hoping Octus would just lie to keep Ilana from even wondering about such things, or Baron from squeezing his tainted hands into Titan.

"We can always try," offered Ilana with a shrug. "If it works, then we have a backup in case Lance's armor gets too damaged to combine correctly."

"That won't happen," bit out Lance, just as Octus pulled up to the edge of the woods. The car would not be able to go any further, as there was no road leading in. The crew piled out, and Octus' human disguise melted into his glowing true form before taking the lead.

"This way."

**:::**

**Yep, truth or dare game was short. Didn't want to turn this into one of _those _fics. No flashback this time since it's like five in the morning, I'm super tired, and I know if I don't get this chapter out now, it won't be out for another month or so lol.  
**


	13. Villain With Good Publicity

**Sorry for not updating in a while! I really hit a writer's block, but now I have a sense of where I'm going. Decided to bring in a new character, but I introduced him in the "Baron flashback" at the end of the Fight Club chapter. Enjoy! **

**:::  
**

"Well. Is this normal?" The four Galalunians stood around a large crater, a standard one-man Galalunian spacecraft sitting at the bottom, top open and empty. Baron was the one who asked the question to break the silence, furrowing his eyebrows, as he stared at the craft. It looked exactly like the small pod he had piloted through the rift gate to reach Earth, down to the red seat upholstery.

"Finding spacepods in the forest? Yeah, that's pretty normal," grumbled Lance, shooting Baron a glare. "And I'm sure you arrived in one yourself, right?" Baron returned the glare.

"This isn't mine. I buried it before I ran into you guys," Baron responded, daring Lance to start an argument. Thankfully, Octus stepped in.

"This one landed recently. The metal is still hot from going through the atmosphere," explained Octus, twisting his body to light up the trees around the dark forest. "From the design, we're probably looking for a somewhat humanoid Mutraddi." Lance nodded before immediately taking the lead.

"Let's split up. Ilana and I will check north and east, and you and Baron take south and west."

"No," interrupted Octus. "That would take too long and I'd rather we catch whatever came through before it causes any damage. The Mutraddi have a habit of sending large creatures. Anything small is probably even more dangerous. Ilana and I will both take care of north and east, you go west, Baron go south. If there's a problem, send out an alert with your watch."

"You might need to calibrate mine to whatever signal you three are on," reminded Baron, holding out his wrist. There seemed to be a lot of little things that always reminded the trio that they only met Baron a couple of days ago. Octus moved to fiddle with the watch, changing a few of the settings to match up with everyone else.

"You do know how to send out an alert, right?" asked Octus, a subtle air of sarcasm in his voice. Baron rolled his eyes.

"Of course. I think they teach that in the military, but hey, I could've gotten to lieutenant rank by winging it the entire time."

Octus ignored him and turned to what his compass dictated as north and started in that direction, Ilana trailing behind him, but not before:

"Be careful you two."

**:::**

Baron scowled as he trudged through the forest, his only light source the moon. Just like the rest of Earth, Sherman Woods made him want to gag. It smelled like some sort of animal _waste_, and there was this annoying chirping that never seemed to go away.

"Barry." Baron has no time to react to the familiar voice before he was thrown into a tree and held there by his throat. "Why is the princess still alive?"

Baron sneered at Starling before aiming a knee into his stomach. Starling blocked it with his other hand, just as Baron brought his elbow down on the wrist holding his throat. Starling's grip loosened, and just as Baron was about to pull away and slide to the left, Starling headbutted him in the nose.

To his credit, Baron only let out a slight grunt even though he was pretty damn sure some cartilage was torn. Starling, dressed in an old Galalunian soldier's bloody uniform (oddly enough there seemed to be something in the coat's inside pocket) had let go of him, taking a step back to cross his arms, one eye staring at Baron who was trying to stop his nosebleed with the cuff of his sweater. The older man looked slightly annoyed, but otherwise seemed rather calm and relaxed.

"Nice to see you again, _Lieutenant_," Baron grumbled, tense unlike his fellow Galalunian. Starling nodded.

"Starling, Barry. I'm not a lieutenant anymore. Why is the princess still alive?" Baron maneuvered away from the tree, easing his cuff away from his nose, the blood flow temporarily stopped. Starling just stared at him, one eye following Baron's every move.

"What's with the uniform then?" Baron asked, keeping his tone light, yet form ready to defend if necessary. Starling looked down at himself, as if realizing what he was wearing for the first time.

"Needed a cover story just in case the princess and company ran into me. Nothing tugs at the heart more than a fallen soldier, right?" Starling explained smoothly.

"I assume Modula sent you?" asked Baron, still not letting his guard down.

"You assume right. He wants to know why he hasn't received word of the princess' death yet. You've been here for a few days, right? And you don't seem gravely injured, or dead. So I _assume _you're close enough to assassinate her," ex-lieutenant Starling explained, as if commenting on how dark it was. He spoke slow, but not in the way someone would when choosing words. He spoke slow in the way that one believes they have all the time in the world.

"Modula never said I had a deadline. He should know I work at my own pace," retorted Baron, glaring at the one-eyed man. Starling just sighed, looking away, one hand moving to run through his short greying hair.

"Barry, Barry, Barry. You think you're real smart, don't you?" Starling smiled then, stained teeth showing. "The princess dies by tomorrow night, or I kill you both. Okay?" Baron sneered, stepping forward.

"This is my mission, Starling. She'll be dead soon enough. So why don't you take your one-eye and wrinkly skin, and go back to doing Modula's dirty work?" Starling gave Baron a look of mock surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry Barry, didn't realize this was _your _mission. Didn't realize you thought _you _were in control." Seeing that Baron didn't respond, Starling continued, "I'd love nothing more than to be on Galaluna again, going about my _routine_. I really would. Just two days ago I murdered your second cousin, you know? Simon was his name, right? Fast kid. Not too bright though, having sided with the rebels and all. Anyway, since I know we both have things to do, I'll tell you exactly what Modula told me. 'I want the princess dead. If Baron doesn't get the job done, kill him, then kill her. Enjoy your trip.'" Starling gestured outwards with both hands as if asking _'what can you do?', _but Baron still didn't say anything, looking even more angry than before.

"Okay, I lied about the enjoy your trip part. But everything else is true, Barry. So get on it, okay? I'd hate to have to send your head back to Modula, that'd be messy."

"You," started Baron, hands clenching into fists, "you can't be _serious_. I had everything under control, and now you and your ridiculous eyepatch are here, and the princess and her friends are scouting the woods for you. How am I supposed to explain away your pod, huh?" Starling shrugged before pulling something out of the inside of his coat, a small glass jar.

"Tell them you found this," the older soldier said, tossing Baron the object. Baron caught it, bloody sweater cuff slightly smearing the outside glass. Inside, he realized, was a small toad-like creature with six arms and bright yellow spots.

"It's a _brauncho_. Pretty rare, found in the Perulian forest. Fun fact, it secretes a poison through its skin. Just let it out and alert the princess. I'm sure one of them will realize it's dangerous before they touch it, and if they don't, well, your job is done. They'll think the Mutraddi sent it."

"Sent it in a spacepod, the size of a Galalunian," grumbled Baron, peering at the brauncho through the glass, squinting into its deep black eyes. Baron furrowed his eyebrows, watching the brauncho blink and then its tongue slip out and run along its face before retreating to its mouth. It had teeth. Sharp teeth.

"Hey, and how do I explain my nose you-" Baron looked up to see that Starling was gone, leaving behind no sign that he was ever there. Baron frowned before looking back down at the brauncho.

"Just don't _secrete _on me, okay?"

**:::**

Octus paused from searching through the surrounding foliage, before turning to look over his shoulder. Ilana's watch let out a pinging noise, indicating an alert has been sent out, this one from a serial number she didn't recognize.

"Looks like Baron found something," mumbled Ilana. "Hopefully nothing we have to fight."

"That's usually never the case," pointed out Octus as they started in the direction the alert had come from. "Be on your guard." Ilana sighed.

"Right, right." They continued through the forest, but with no task to really focus on, Ilana found herself growing uncomfortable with the long silence.

"How're things with Kimmy," she asked, hoping to start some sort of conversation – her father always said she liked to talk. "She seems to really like you."

"She does," agreed Octus. Ilana frowned a bit at his flat tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And you like her too, right?"

"Yes. I enjoy spending time with her," Octus answered, and Ilana was glad to hear some sense of feeling, or at least what she believed Octus was trying to convey. Oftentimes he didn't bother with making his voice more human (or Galalunian for that matter) – not because he didn't have "emotion" to put behind it, but rather he didn't think it necessary to do so. He tended to forget that humans and Galalunians alike used tone and inflection in speech to communicate, and that his method of speaking made him seem cold and unapproachable, which Ilana found to be the opposite of his true self.

"And you like Baron?" Ilana nearly stopped walking when she heard Octus' question. Baron? Of course she liked Baron. He was friendly and polite, and seemed to genuinely enjoy listening to her.

"Of course," Ilana replied. "Don't you?"

"Lance doesn't." Octus avoided the question, but Ilana didn't care, pursing her lips at the thought of Lance and Baron's ridiculous and largely unnecessary fighting.

"He's going to have to get over it. Baron's our ally. How are we supposed to work as a team if he can't trust him?" Ilana stated.

"Do you?" Ilana looked over at Octus who was looking ahead, continuing in the direction of Baron's alert.

"Trust Baron? Well, yeah. Why?" Ilana wasn't sure she would like whatever Octus had to say next.

"He showed up rather conveniently. And with just his Manus armor, he managed to kill the Mutraddi that was giving us such trouble. Can you imagine Lance destroying it with only a few moves?" Octus explained, observant of all the details of that evening. Ilana tried not to look upset – Octus was merely pointing out facts, not trying to question her judgement.

"Well, no, but we weakened it! And Baron probably knew a bit more about Mutraddi weak spots because he's been on Galaluna since they attacked. Yeah, he probably knows more about the Mutraddi than we do," defended Ilana, nodding to herself. Octus was tempted to point out that he was a walking encyclopedia on the Mutraddi, but they were closing in on Baron's position, and he didn't want to get her any more upset. As they got closer, it became apparent that Lance was already there, as they heard both he and Baron arguing back and forth.

"Go ahead, _Corporal_, it looks harmless, right? What if it gets away before the robot and Ilana get here?"

"It won't. And I don't think yellow spots suggest harmless. In fact, they seem like warnings. But you probably missed that in survival training, right? Too busy flexing for all the new recruits?"

"I'm flattered you think I have muscles worth flexing. No wonder you kept staring at me when I took off my shirt."

"I was actually looking for all the best spots to stab you, but since you're clumsy enough to walk into a tree branch, I'm going to say you'd probably fall on the knife."

"Hey!" called Ilana walking into the clearing, hands on her hips. "I can't believe you two are arguing." Catching sight of Baron's bruised nose, dried blood above his lips, her eyes went wide and she ran over to him.

"A tree branch did this?" she asked, worried as she inspected the damage, but somewhat skeptical, sending Lance a look. The dark-haired man held up both hands in mock surrender.

"It wasn't me. Whatever happened to his nose is all his fault," Lance defended. Before Baron could remind Lance about earlier in gym, Octus interrupted.

"Is this why you sent out the alert?" Octus asked, leaning over to peer at the brouncho sitting in the grass, black eyes staring off into the distance. It's yellow spots looked unnaturally bright in the darkness. Baron nodded, stepping over to him.

"Yeah, it looks like one of the animals I read about in the academy, so it's probably not of Earth. Do you think the Mutraddi sent this?" Octus stared at it for a moment as Lance and Ilana crowded closer.

"I recognize it too," commented Lance, looking over at Octus for confirmation. The robot leaned in closer before:

"It's not Mutraddi. It's a animal found on Galaluna, a brauncho. It secretes poison through its skin, only dangerous to Galalunians and some animals on Galaluna. Rare, but it has been known to kill the more _inexperienced_ soldiers on practice missions in the Perulian forest. That's probably why you two recognize it - it's usually put in survival manuals for beginner soldiers. It's a good thing neither of you touched it," explained Octus after doing a quick scan of the creature.

"So," started Ilana, slightly leaning away, "This is what the Mutraddi sent to kill us? It's not exactly Mushy." At the mention of their friend, Octus and Lance looked away from the brauncho – they didn't talk much about Tashy 497 after his death.

"Well, they probably thought you'd let your guard down since it's so small," commented Baron, the somber mood going unnoticed by him. "We should probably kill it."

"A ship that size for something like this?" mumbled Lance to himself before shaking his head. "That doesn't seem right. Maybe this isn't what landed. Maybe _someone _accidently brought something with him from Galaluna." Baron rolled his eyes at Lance's accusation.

"I think I would've noticed a slimy looking thing with yellow spots." Ilana glanced over at Octus, eyebrows furrowed, once again wringing her hands.

"We don't have to kill it, do we Octus? I mean, it's not hurting anyone and it's not dangerous to Earthlings, is it?" she asked quietly. The brouncho was no Mushy, but that didn't stop her from feeling just a tad uncomfortable with outright murdering it.

"We don't know that for sure. And introducing anything foreign into the environment without controlling it can lead to a disaster."

"But-"

"And we can't keep it as a pet. It feeds on other small animals indigenous to Galaluna, not to mention it can kill us with just its skin. It's not worth the risk," Octus interrupted, always logical. Ilana bit her bottom lip and looked down at the brouncho, which blinked up at her with it's dark eyes. She looked away. Lance placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Octus' is right. It's not safe to keep something like this around. Not for us or anyone else." Ilana nodded, still looking away.

"Right. Make it quick, please. We need to get back home and finish our homework." It was a Saturday. Homework wasn't exactly Ilana's top concern at the moment, and judging by her downcast look, it wasn't what was really on her mind. Shrugging off Lance's hand, the princess walked away, leaving her three bodyguards to take care of the black-eyed animal sitting in the grass.

**:::**

**Sorry this chapter was a bit boring! It's a bit of a setup, get Baron motivated to plot some murder and all that. Also, just wanted to point out that Ilana is obviously not worried about the homework, but is using it as an excuse to get away from watching the brauncho get killed. **


	14. Enigmatic Minion

**Sorry for the lack of updates! Classes got in the way, as did writer's block, but looking back at the reviews really got me motivated. Hope you enjoy!  
**

**:::**

The Lunis household was silent at 10AM on Sunday morning. Breakfast was done, and Ilana had retreated to her room for homework. Lance left for what he called "business" - for once Ilana didn't ask for details. Baron was left to himself as Octus did his daily chores around the spacious house. The lieutenant was sitting at the kitchen table, homework in front of him, fingers tapping against the table.

Starling was going to kill the princess tonight.

How, Baron didn't know. There was no way he would be able to get close with an attack given her two bodyguards. Not to mention they all had armor in case a fight broke out, and last time Baron checked, Starling didn't have a watch on.

_Tap tap tap_

Whatever Starling was planning, Baron needed to decide what part he would play. There was no doubt the princess would die, but the timing was something different. Baron worked methodically, and quite frankly, you only got to spend time with the princess of a planet for so long. None of them knew how to get back to Galaluna themselves, so there was no rush. No harm in keeping her alive, if only for Baron to get a chance to _know_ her.

_Tap tap tap_

Yes. Tonight was too soon. A girl like Ilana deserved to be pampered before her death. There was still so much he had to offer, and Starling was going to take that away. Yes, Baron decided, Starling had to go. Perhaps he could protect Ilana and set up the robot and Lance to die. It was possible, if Baron knew exactly what Starling's plan was. He sighed, his fingers now still against the table.

Baron glanced down at the trigonometry in front of him and scowled before staring up at the ceiling. He wondered what Lance was doing. Getting himself killed, hopefully. Probably with that Chan guy, doing something socially unacceptable (because when did Lance ever do anything appropriate, _really_?). Baron cursed himself for not following the corporal, if only to get proof for the princess to scold him even more. Once again, Baron sighed.

Life was so boring that he actually thought about _snooping _on _Lance_. Eugh.

Octus zoomed by, the sound of a vacuum following him into the living room. Baron stared at the older man disguise working in the living room, quick and efficient. He frowned. If only Octus could be as easily dealt with as Lance. Baron hoped Starling knew what he was walking into, but then again, if his fellow lieutenant wanted to end up in an early grave, Baron wasn't going to intervene.

"Hey Baron." Ilana glided into the kitchen, quietly greeting him as she searched the pantry for a snack.

"Princess," Baron acknowledged with a nod, dark eyes watching her every movement. Ilana sighed before turning to give him a small smile.

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because it's who you are," responded Baron, furrowing his eyebrows. What kind of question was that? Ilana gave a short laugh, easing herself into the seat across from him, hands fiddling with a packaged granola bar.

"I don't really feel like it," Ilana mumbled, looking down at the granola bar. Baron stared at her for a moment, glancing between her downcast eyes and her hands. He reached over to hold one of her hands with his own. He heard the vacuum shut off.

"I don't really feel like a lieutenant either, but I'm assuming that's what happens when you land on an alien planet and are forced to associate with the local wildlife," he joked, thumb brushing across her knuckles. Ilana offered him a small smile, grateful for his humor.

"Sometimes, I just," she started watching Baron's hand against her own, "I just wish I was on Galaluna. I should be with my people." This time, Baron didn't attempt a joke, simply staring. He thought of how many rebels he had murdered, how many children Starling had eaten, and how many cities Modula had bombed. He thought of seeing Ilana's corpse, burnt, barely recognizable in the destruction that had become Galaluna. Or perhaps, like her father, chained and tortured.

"Maybe you should be," Baron said, no emotion in his voice. Because Baron was a practical man, and his job would be much easier if she was still on Galaluna. Or maybe he wouldn't have a job, and by this time the war would be over, and he would finally have the followers Modula promised him. He would be a prince in the new world, and soon, he promised himself, a king, splitting Modula's head open on the throne.

Ilana looked up at him, wide-eyed not expecting that response.

"But," saved Baron, "at least Galaluna has some hope, now. The rebels only fight because they believe that you'll come back."

"Like you?"

Baron smiled wide, teeth showing.

"Like me."

Because just as he was practical, Baron was always a liar.

**:::**

Lance stared at the cigarette held out in front of him.

"Smoke, bro?"

He didn't smoke, didn't really see the need to, but felt everyone's eyes on him. Surely, Ilana and Octus would be against such a thing.

Lance accepted the cigarette, slipping it between his lips like he'd seen others do, and leaning out a bit to allow Luke to light it for him. The white haired man stuffed his zippo back into his dark jeans before taking a drag of his own cancer stick. Next to Lance on the too small couch, Chan's girlfriend was doing her makeup, holding the compact close, not at all affected by the smoke around her.

Two other people lounged around the cramped apartment, an Asian man, making himself a sandwich in the kitchen, cigarette dangling from his thin lips, and the other a dark-skinned woman, texting on her phone, holding her third cigarette since Lance arrived. Both had introduced themselves as Sho and Toni respectively, not once taking their eyes off their current distractions.

The room was silent, save for Toni's fingers mashing against her phone buttons, and Lance wondered if he was the only one feeling more than awkward. Trying to calm his growing anxiety, he took another puff of the cigarette, nearly choking. Luke didn't bother stifling his laugh.

"How adorable," he mocked, sharing a look with Toni, who rolled her hazel eyes at his behavior, returning her attention to her phone. Thankfully, Lance was saved from any useless banter when Mike Chan shuffled into the room, a manila folder in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other.

"Drink up, bitches," he jeered, slamming the beer on the coffee table. Lance watched in muted surprise as Luke, Sho, and Toni all congregated to grab a drink, as if it was all routine. He vaguely heard Chan whisper something to his girlfriend before sending her out the door, skimpy outfit and all. Once she had closed the door behind her, Chan addressed the group gathered in his small apartment.

"So, gentleman, tonight we're going to pick up some _medicine_," at that, Luke snorted, trying to cover it up by taking a swig of his beer, "and hopefully, no one gets shot this time, yeah?"

"That happened only once. And it was you," stated Sho, one eyebrow raised, holding both his sandwich and drink. Chan waved him off. Lance tried not to look surprised. He had expected an argument, some sort of fight, but it was as if…they were friends. As far as Lance was concerned, Chan didn't have friends, just people he owed money. He suddenly felt very wrong.

Chan pulled out one of the papers from his folder, searching for a sharpie in his back pocket.

"Okay," he started, kneeling at the coffee table, everyone leaning in to get a better look at the paper. Lance quickly stuffed out the cigarette on the table before moving close as well. Everyone glanced up at him briefly, before looking back at the paper, a printed out map.

"Luke, Lance, me and you guys will do the trade at dock C," instructed Chan, circling the location on the map."Sho, you and Toni will be look out and transport here, okay?" He went on to mark the location of their escape on the map, a spot behind a row of boathouses.

Sho shrugged and Lance furrowed his eyebrows, glancing up at Chan.

"What trade?" he asked ignorantly, unsure of exactly what Chan was talking about. When he agreed to meet up with the young man to discuss _business_, he had expected something about racing or cars, but this involved none of those.

"With the dealers," stated Toni bluntly, looking at Lance like he was a child. Luke nudged her again, and they shared another look.

"Don't be so hard on the kid," defended Chan, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance resisted the urge to knock it off. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Mike Chan's new attitude toward him. "Trust me, if anything goes south, he'll be able to knock more than a couple of heads." Luke clucked his tongue in distaste.

"Tonight then? That's cutting it close to invite a new guy in." Chan shrugged finally removing his hand from Lance's shoulder.

"We're all good?" he asked, looking around his group for confirmation. Three of the four nodded, business as usual. Lance simply stared, quite unsure of what was even happening. He felt like he had landed on Earth all over again.

"Good. Tonight at 7."

**:::**

Baron glanced at the watch hanging in the kitchen. 2PM.

Ilana was sitting across from him, reading a book required for English, and Octus was cleaning up lunch, sushi, which Baron actually threw up. Raw fish _did not _agree with his stomach.

"Hey," he said, leaning over to get Ilana's attention. She looked up from _Hamlet_, highlighter still in her hand. "Wanna go out?"

Ilana stared, wide-eyed. A faint blush made itself across her face as she considered his proposition.

"Baron…are you asking me out?" Baron blinked at her nervousness.

"Yes? I kinda _regurgitated_ my lunch and I'm sure the robot isn't too keen on making me something else." Octus pretended he didn't hear them over washing the dishes. Ilana's face didn't turn any less pink, and she seemed to struggle with her words. She was being asked on an Earth date! Her first one, just like how all those girls in the locker room would talk about. Ilana never had any stories to share, at least not until she went to that concert with Lance, which didn't even count since he was playing the role of her brother. But now a real date. Something _normal_.

"So," pressed Baron, wondering why it was taking her so long to respond. He was just asking her to go out and push off homework, not marry him. No, not yet. Baron laughed inwardly, imagining how _that _conversation would go. No doubt Lance would want in, and then they'd have to have this messy threesome, and Lance probably hogged blankets in bed and would most likely roll over and kill Ilana in his sleep, so Baron would have to sleep in the middle, a pillow between himself and the corporal, lest the dark-haired man got a bit grabby in the night.

Baron decided to stop thinking about a threesome with the princess and her corporal.

Ilana nodded, smiling.

"Yes! I'd love to," she responded quickly, red-cheeked but looking beyond happy. Baron returned the smile, getting up from his seat.

"Great. You can show me around." Ilana followed suit, glancing over at Octus.

"Octus, we're going out, okay? We'll be back later tonight."

"Just let me finish up the dishes and I'll go with you," he said, focused on scrubbing away the bacteria only he could see. Ilana and Baron shared a look behind his back.

"Uh, it's okay, take your time," offered Ilana, waving her free hand. "I'm sure we can handle a trip into the city alone."

Ilana didn't wait for a response, grabbing Baron by the wrist and pulling him out the kitchen. Octus paused in his work, hearing Ilana grab her purse from her room, before following Baron out, giggling the entire way.

This would be problematic.

Shutting off the water, Octus allowed the rest of the dishes to soak. He was just about to slip off the yellow rubber gloves and catch up to his charge when an alert popped up on his HUD. It was his cellphone (cellphone meaning the internal module he had programmed with an American phone number so people, namely Kimmy, could reach him). Knowing his girlfriend wouldn't settle for his voicemail, Octus decided his previous venture could wait. A short phone conversation wouldn't detract from his primary mission. Just a couple of minutes, and he would be on his way to shadowing the lieutenant and princess.

**:::**

"I like this."

Baron looked up from the burger he was currently struggling with.

"What? Watching me try to eat this without looking silly?"

Ilana giggled, politely covering her mouth with her free hand, the other holding the spoon that was poised above her sundae.

"No, _this_. I like being with you. And I mean, everything that's going on right now," she explained, looking down at her sundae with a smile, one Baron hadn't seen since the events of last night. He nibbled on his sandwich, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm just…glad. I mean sure, Lance is in one of his moods, and Octus has been distracted, but the Mutraddi haven't attacked in a while, and to finally have someone to just…hang out with. It makes me happy," she elaborated, meeting his eyes across the table they occupied outside the restaurant.

"Hang with?" asked Baron, holding the near untouched burger in his hands, as if the longer he held it, the easier it would become to eat without making a mess. Ilana nodded.

"Talk to, you know? I mean, it's a great day!" The princess waved her arms around, gesturing to the cloudless skies and comfortable crowdedness of the streets around them. "And you don't have to worry about looking silly around me," she added, watching Baron nibble on the burger some more. Taking this as her permission, Baron stuffed most of the burger in his mouth, and just as he expected, it started to fall apart in his hands.

Ilana laughed, reaching over to take one of the pickles that had slid out of the sandwich, popping it into her mouth. Baron managed to somewhat smile as he openly chewed on his food. He was actually surprised that it tasted _good_. If he needed any reason to stick around Earth, other than for the princess of course, it would definitely be this burger.

"I've spent so much time worrying about Lance, and Octus, and my people, that I guess I've just stressed myself out. There's a time and place for that, right? I mean worrying isn't going to solve anything," Ilana rationalized, her sundae long forgotten as she gestured with her hands, perhaps trying to convince herself more than Baron, who was busy finishing up his food.

"And Octus says that stressing isn't good. Catching an illness isn't going to help, especially an alien one, so I shouldn't worry! I should enjoy myself, at least for a little bit. Then set goals!" Ilana nodded to herself, a fist landing in her palm.

"Goals! Why beat myself up over not staying with my father when I can go back?" She continued nodding, a plan already formulating in her head. Baron wiped his face with his napkin, not liking where this rant was going.

"You mean going back to Galaluna? That might not be possible," Baron said, cautious with his words.

"It has to be. There was this Mutraddi creature that we couldn't defeat, but it never came back so, it _had-_"

"Slow down," interrupted Baron holding up his hands. "This is relaxing time, right? So relax. We'll handle any princess related business afterwards, okay?" Ilana took a breath, nodding.

"Right. Can't think straight if I'm freaking out. Okay!" She jumped up, taking her sundae with her.

"Let's go!" she chirped, disposing of her unfinished dessert and hitting the streets. Baron smirked to himself – Ilana was becoming entirely too easy to sway. It was almost becoming _boring_.

The blond turned and waved him over, a bright smile she seemed to have just for him. Baron returned the smile with his own practiced one, following after her.

**:::**

John Starling sighed as he trudged through Sherman Woods, holding out what seemed to look like a pocket watch. He was getting entirely too old for this. The pocket watch let out a high pinging noise, indicating he had reached his destination. Just as the former soldier expected, they had buried his transportation. Sighing once again, Starling pocketed the small device before grabbing for the collapsed shovel attached to the back of his belt loop under his cardinal coat.

Holding it out, Starling allowed the standard Galalunian army-issued shovel to extend before setting out on his task. It only took the middle-aged man a half hour to dig most of his spacepod out of its shallow grave, the soft soil making the process much easier than expected. The shovel was back on his belt looped, hidden under the tail of his coat.

Climbing into the duh up earth, Starling pulled the small lever against the side of the pod's door. He stepped back to allow the door space to mechanically open before climbing into the craft, hands searching under the seat. With a soft "ahah", the man found the button he was looking for.

Pressing it caused the seating to snap up, a hidden compartment built in for extra cargo. Feeling a bit better now that he had found what he was looking for, Starling hummed to himself as he pulled the large black case from the compartment. Even in his old age, he was able to heft it out of the dugout, pulling himself up alongside it. Humming the entire way, Starling snapped up the locks and pushed the case open, checking the contents. Nodding to himself, the gray-haired man closed the case again before reaching for his shovel.

Humming to himself, John Starling set to reburying the alien spacecraft in Sherman Woods.

**:::**

_Colonel Margit Kovac didn't know what to expect when she found Officer Tavs with a bullet through his head near midnight, his body hidden amongst the foliage near her groups' makeshift command tent. Turning the young soldier over, Kovac frowned at the cut on his cheek - he had seen the attack coming, and his killer decided to off him executioner style anyway. Either Modula sent an assassin that had slipped through her defenses, or there was a spy amidst the civilians they had rescued two days ago from the fallen town of Stontug. Unholstering her sidearm, the brunette slid into the tent, ready in case the murderer was still around.  
_

_He was.  
_

_Lieutenant Baron Richtofen stood with his back to her at the large desk centered in the tent, copying the map of her team's strategic resource pools and fallback camps. Kovac wondered idly who had been so ignorant to leave the map out instead of storing it with the more heavily guarded rations and weapons.  
_

_"Put your hands up and turn around Lieutenant," ordered the colonel, holding her aim on his back, slightly above his right lung. She wanted him alive. Baron paused in his scribbling, letting out a sigh before slowly easing his hands up and turning to face his superior officer. The front of his white vest was slightly bloody, as was his neck, most likely from shooting too close to Tavs. He was smiling.  
_

_"Colonel. I'm sorry about Officer Tavs. Was gonna bury him all proper like, I swear, but I had to attend to this map first, you know?"  
_

_"Why are you working for Modula?" Kovac accused, as if he hadn't said anything. __She had known Lieutenant Richtofen for over a month, and if she had to be honest, didn't even notice him slip into her ranks until he introduced himself four days after they liberated a POW camp bordering along Auslien. He had never given any inclination of being a traitor - simply one of the many soldiers who accompanied her across the south, organizing plans and setting up attacks. Perhaps, he had used this anonymity to his advantage, to work his way through the forces and make copies of their plans._  


_"I prefer to think I'm working _with _Modula_," Baron responded, as if they were having a discussion over tea, a wide grin on his face_.__ Kovac didn't return it, catching sight of his pistol holstered to his hip._

_"Remove your gun, _slowly_," ordered the woman. "Try anything and Modula will be receiving your carcass in the mail."_

_"I wouldn't dream of it, Margit." Just as he was told, Baron slowly unclipped his silenced gun from his hip, not even giving a hint of funny business. _

_"Toss it aside, then turn around and keep your hands up," ordered Kovac. He did, with no complaints, and Kovac felt her stomach turn. Something wasn't right - this was too easy.  
_

_She hesitantly made her way to him, one hand reaching for her belt to bind his hands with. _

_Then, she remembered the cut on Tavs' cheek.  
_

_Baron turned and cut her across the throat with a thin knife that was hidden in his sleeve, just as the woman jumped back. The sudden attack caused her to misaim and fire somewhere over the blond's shoulder. In the next second, Baron had slapped the gun from her grip and kicked in her the chest, sending Kovac onto the ground.  
_

_She rolled away as he aimed to deepen the cut along her throat, and kicked him in the knee. Although he didn't fall, the lieutenant stumbled, giving Kovac time to jump up and slam her elbow into his neck. Baron let out a slight wheezing noise, bringing down his knife to sink into her shoulder. Kovac let out a scream before headbutting Baron, forcing him back and breaking his hold on the knife, which he had managed to bury into Kovac's shoulder.  
_

_Ignoring the stinging sensation, Kovac aimed to punch Baron with her good arm, but the young man blocked it and held on, swinging her into the table. Stumbling, Kovac attempted to regain her footing but Baron cuffed her across the face, sending her to the ground, landing on the knife.  
_

_Even over her screaming, Kovac could hear the rest of her soldiers yelling from outside the tent, trying to locate where the gunshot had come from. She struggled to her feet, catching Baron roll up the copy of the map and tucking it in his coat.  
He tried to reach for his gun on the ground, but Kovac's foot shot out and into his knee again, nearly breaking it. Baron grunted, obviously trying to withhold a scream and kicked her across the face with his other foot. The commotion outside was getting louder as the soldiers neared. Baron glanced at the tent's entrance then at Kovac, who was already back on her feet and aiming her fist at his face. Baron dodged and grabbed her arm before flipping her over and onto the table, her back slamming into the wood.  
_

_"I'd love to continue this but it seems like we're about to have company and I'm more of a one lady not multiple men kinda guy. Until next time, Margrit." The traitor leaned over, and for one terrifying second, Kovac thought he was about to kiss her, but instead, her ripped the knife out of her shoulder, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Not waiting for the colonel to stop her scream, Baron limped to the back of the tent, cutting through the fabric to make an exit.  
_

_With that, he was gone, along with the southern rebellion's intel.  
_

**:::**

**I had a lot of fun writing the end flashback. It was really nice to get into Baron's more violent side.  
**


	15. Secret Public Identity

**Once again thanks for the reviews and continued interest in this story! I apologize for the wait but I've been going through a lot of stuff. Please read my notes at the end of the chapter too! I don't own SBT. Enjoy!**

**:::**

Baron had killed exactly six people in his life.

(And crippled two others, one of which ended up dying two weeks later from an infection during his treatment.)

He was more than comfortable with the concept of murder, even somewhat favoring it over torture, as Modula seemed to often employ. Not that Baron didn't appreciate torture, because sometimes it was the only way to get information you needed, and Baron had done more than his fair share of interrogations, before and during the war.

But when it came down to it, if you were in his way, and you weren't even a tad amusing, Baron wouldn't hesitate to cut your throat.

(Which was a bit too messy for his taste, but what can you do, huh?)

So, Baron's one hundred percent sure he's going to have to murder Starling. Because the older man was most definitely invading Baron's territory, and he was not someone Baron had ever been amused by. Quite the opposite, for Starling had evoked some sort of fear in Baron every time they met that reminded him of when he was a child, hiding under his blankets from the Mutraddi his father warned him about. Only now Baron was not a child and the Mutraddi were not _so _bad, and he once saw Starling pick some kid's _flesh _out of his teeth. Even Baron has standards.

He came to this realization (he was only ninety-four percent sure that morning) at 6:51 that evening, when he and Ilana were at the door to the Lunis household, carrying the rest of the chicken pad thai they didn't finish at the restaurant they ate dinner at. Ilana fumbled with her keys, having too many, some of which Baron was sure were unnecessary, and finally found the correct one, slipping it into the lock and turning. He was only half aware of the nearly unnoticeable sound of an energy bolt leaving a barrel, a sound he'd grown so accustomed to that by instinct he covered Ilana's body, feeling the rip of pain through his mid back, barely missing his left lung.

Half thankful for the quiet night that made the silenced sound recognizable, and half annoyed by the inefficient doorknob on American doors, Baron kicked the wood in, throwing Ilana and the pad thai to the wood floor paneling just as another bolt hit grazed his side. Ilana screamed, food now forgotten on the floor as Baron rolled off of her and kicked the door close, another bolt splintering the wood, nearly making a hole.

"What was that? Are you okay?" Ilana asked, eyes wide, speaking fast yet not frantic as she reached to feel along Baron's back and side, fingers gliding along the tears in his shirt. It was warm and sticky with the blood leaving his body, the wounds not fully cauterized by the high energy bolt that had tore through his flesh.

"I don't know," lied Baron, grimacing as he pulled away, blocking out the pain to push the couch up against the front door. "Sniper, probably."

It was as if something clicked in Ilana's brain, her eyes getting wider if possible, and she mumbled to herself, "G3."

Baron was about to ask what she meant, just as he felt a ripping pain when he eased off the couch after pushing it, earning a slight groan. Hearing this, Ilana looked up with a grim frown.

"You stay inside and bandage up your back. I'll take care of this." She reached for her wrist, ready to transform into her armor and issue a warning to the organization of humans now assaulting them, only to find that her watch wasn't allowing her to change.

"What's wrong," breathed out Baron, now against the foot of the couch, shirtless and using what he previously wore as a makeshift wrap for his wounds.

"I don't understand," mumbled Ilana, staring at the watch, her other hand turning the dial along the side. "I can't transform." Baron winced as he tightened the shirt around his midsection and brought up his own watch, twisting the knob to select the option to change. And just like Ilana, it didn't work, an error appearing in Galaluna's standard code language, which did not enlighten him at all as to what was happening. He frowned, and felt his stomach drop, quickly flipping to sending out a distress signal to the robot. Once again the error. Baron clenched his jaw.

Starling just couldn't pick an easy way to die, could he.

**:::**

Lance had a bad feeling the entire drive over, squished between Luke and Sho in the backseat of Chan's red car, Toni loudly chewing her gum in the front passenger seat. It was nearly 7PM and the five were on their way to pick up whatever it was that Chan dealt in, something Lance had yet to accurately determine, tight lipped and expressionless the entire drive.

"Keep it up and you won't be getting the lady privileges any more," grumbled Chan, glancing over at his companion in the front as he made his way through the silent docks, the GPS bright in the car as it indicated the spot they would park.

Toni rolled her eyes, continuing to chew the gum, noticeably quieter. "Wouldn't want to be stuck with Luke and his 200 year old parka."

Luke let out an indignant "hey!" and made motion to sniff his coat, jostling Lance the equally quiet Sho beside him.

"I washed it last week," the white haired delinquent defended. Toni snorted but said nothing more as Chan pulled up to a spot behind a boathouse with faded curvy writing on it that Lance couldn't make out in the dark.

The car turned off, headlight flipped to dim, and all occupants of the car exited, now nearly as silent as the night. Chan broke the quiet when he opened the trunk, grabbing out a worn dark duffel bag and said:

"We'll be back in twenty minutes. If we stay longer, you know the drill," he explained, mostly addressing Sho and Toni who both simply nod. Chan shouldered the duffel bag and tosses his car keys to Toni, who sent Sho a slight smirk. The Asian man pretended he didn't notice it at all.

"Let's go." And with that, Mike Chan headed in the direction of Dock C, flanked by Luke in his white parka that stood out starkly in the darkness. Lance hesitated, his back to Toni and Sho who waited expectantly, Sho with his hand moving to his waistband, up against the Glock that was comfortably settled there.

That bad feeling hadn't left yet.

Lance attributed it to first time jitters and hurried to catch up to Chan and Luke, both who have not once stopped to see if he was keeping up with them.

Sho's hand slid away from the Glock and moved to pinch Toni's hip. She squeaked and jumped away, closer to the car.

"Don't be jealous," she giggled out, looking after the three young men who were nearly out of sight. Sho didn't respond, staring after his cousin whose side he was so used to being at.

**:::**

Octus hadn't planned for this. Not really anyway, because he was logical enough to know the time would come as he and Kimmy got more serious. But, even all his logic and reasoning could not make him feel any less nervous, or at least what Octus could define as nervous in his nature.

When Kimmy called, asking him over that night, his first option was to make up an excuse. And that was when he realized that if he had to make up an excuse, it meant he had the time to see her. But, _Ilana_. He had promised Lance he would keep an eye on her, on Baron too. But, Octus had run through the possibilities. There was a 47% chance Baron was a traitor. Which meant that, if Octus followed his programming, Ilana wasn't in _immediate _danger. And if she was, he would be at her side in less than a minute, responding to any alert she sent out. So, Octus did have the time. Yet, he couldn't spend so long with his girlfriend, knowing that his responsibilities lied elsewhere. But, when Kimmy resorted to begging, Octus gave in, warning her that he could only stay for a short while, and that was enough for her to whoop in joy, finally to reveal the reason for inviting him over.

"I can't wait for you to meet my parents!"

**:::**

"Go to your room," ordered Baron, getting to his feet, shirt secured around his torso to stop the bleeding, and making his way to the corner of the living room he had claimed for himself, the hamper offered by Octus holding all his belongings, including his standard issue pistol.

"No way," said Ilana, her voice steady despite the rising panic when she too realize she couldn't send out a distress signal to either of her two missing bodyguards. "I'm not going to hide out and wait for who knows how many people to come in here and capture you." Unlike Baron, she jumped up and ran for the kitchen, no injury to slow her down. Baron frowned. If Ilana met Starling, everything could end up very bad. And if Starling opened his big mouth…

Ilana returned with a kitchen knife, large in her small hands, the long blade catching the light.

"Lance's gun is upstairs. If we can get our hands on that, I'll be much more useful," explained Ilana, in a voice Baron had never heard her use before, nearly devoid of any emotion, now neutral, understanding that this was a moment that they were completely vulnerable. And then the lights went out.

**:::**

An alert flashed across Octus's HUD. The security system at home had unexpectedly crashed. Newton continued to smile as Mrs. Mysner told the story of her and her husband's vacation in Bermuda, all the while his system pinging the security to update on the cause of the crash.

Power failure. But due to what? There was no storm, no hint of electricity in the air to indicate a storm was approaching. The night was perfect.

"And can you _believe _who we met? Donny Jepp. I _swear _it was him, not a look-alike," ranted Mrs. Mysner, taking a moment to bite into some of her salad, her other hand moving to brush some of the blond hair out of her face. Kimmy sat next to her boyfriend at the dinner table, sending him smiles as she ate her mother's pot roast, her father opposite her, cross-armed and looking not at all impressed, his food barely touched.

"I mean, have you _seen _those pirate movies. _Gorgeous_." Mrs. Mysner continued on about her adventure with Donny Jepp in Bermuda, as Newton continued to smile and mechanically nod along, pretending to be fully engaged as he waited patiently for the system to boot up, for the power to come on because there was no way the power could just be totally knocked out. He was starting to regret not installing the generator, regret that he listened to Barb when she said that the electric company they shared had never failed her in the 14 years she's lived in Sherman.

At last, there was an update. The security had rebooted, running on the reserve battery Octus had specially designed for the alien technology. Only, it would barely last for two hours, and the main power of the house was still out.

"Is something wrong Newton?" Everyone in the Mysner household stared at him, at his frown that he had unknowingly portrayed.

"I'm sorry. I would love to stay longer but I remembered there's a family dinner I'm supposed to attend."

"Oh, but you already ate," mumbled Ms. Mysner, as Mr. Mysner just raised an eyebrow.

"Newton," whispered Kimmy, eyebrows furrowed. "What's going on?"

"I have to go Kimmy, I'm sorry." Newton raised from his seat, setting the napkin from his lap onto the table next to his near finished dinner, the food now floating in his translucent body, waiting to be phased through at a later time. "Thank you for the dinner Mrs. Mysner. It was wonderful. I really appreciate you and your husband having me over." He stuck out his hand mechanically, waiting as Mr. Mysner begrudgingly shook it, having not once smiled the entire dinner. Octus noted that he and his daughter shared very similar characteristics, from their red hair to their identical frown and distaste of anyone who they deemed as different from the start.

"Oh, well it was nice having you over, Newton. Please do drop by again, me and my husband insist," laughed Mrs. Mysner, either completely ignorant of her husband's grumpy behavior, or simply uncaring. Newton nodded his head goodbye, allowing Kimmy to lead him out of the dining room and toward the front door.

Just as Newton reached for the doorknob, Kimmy grabbed his other wrist.

"Wait," she said, pulling him around, giving him a serious look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are you always leaving at random times?"

Newton stared, unsure of how to answer her blunt question.

"I," he paused, looking away, somewhat feeling..._bad_ about what he was about to say. "I have other responsibilities, Kimmy."

That was as truthful as he could be, he told himself. Kimmy didn't need to know more. The redhead shook her head, and Newton expected her to get angry and push him out for his lack of explanation, but instead she looked down at her feet.

"Newton, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Octus tried to reason that he couldn't, that Kimmy was just a human girl who he happened to be close with but who would never understand him or the situation he was involved in.

"I mean," she looked up, catching his eye, "I understand that sometimes, people have personal things they'd rather not share. But, it's just...it's not fair. I really care about you Newton. And I worry about you. So, you don't have to tell me, not if you really don't want to. But, I won't judge you, I swear. I just want to be a part of your life, and sometimes you make that very difficult." She looked away again, taking a step back.

And in that moment, Octus realized that he was no longer Newton. That when he was with Kimmy, he no longer had to act as "Newton", that he had become as real with her as he had with Lance and Ilana. Somehow, between the first time he tutored her, and this night, he had stopped being Newton, a new student with an immense amount of knowledge, to Octus, a robot from another planet who was slowly starting to understand humanity and _feel_.

Octus almost wished he could go back, go back to when he first landed on Earth, when he trusted himself to be nonjudgmental, to be practical, to be rational and if necessary, cold. But this planet had changed him, Ilana and Lance had shown him what family meant, and Kimmy...Kimmy deserved more than he gave.

"I'm not from here."

Octus had never minded silence, but now it seemed to be crushing him as he waited for Kimmy's response, as she searched his eyes.

"What-what do you mean?"

"I'm not from Earth."

Kimmy's mouth dropped open, but before she could say anything, Octus' hand settled on her shoulder.

"I have to protect Ilana. It's too much to explain now, but she's important. It's my job to keep her safe, that's why I'm here, on this planet." They shared a look, Kimmy's mouth still hanging open as she processed what he said.

"You're...you're not lying?" Octus gravely shook his head, removing his hand from her shoulder. Kimmy pursed her lips and looked away.

"So, you're an alien?"

"Technically, yes." Kimmy nodded to herself, still looking away.

"This...this is a lot to take in."

"It is. I have to go now Kimmy." He waited for a moment, expecting her to kiss him goodbye like she always did, but instead, his human girlfriend could not even meet his eyes, focusing anywhere but on him.

Octus felt an ache, something he couldn't quite explain in the pit of his processing unit, and brief unreadable code flashed across his HUD. Giving Kimmy one last look, he turned and left the Mysner residence.

**:::**

"Baron?" A beam of light flipped on, right into Ilana's eyes and she squinted, quickly bringing the kitchen blade up in front of her. Baron peered over the sight of his gun and slowly lowered his aim, the clipped on mini-flashlight beam still on, yet now pointed away from Ilana's face.

"What's going on?" asked Baron, moving to stand right next to his ward, all the while scanning the rest of the house with his one flashlight.

"The electricity's out, I think," mumbled Ilana, standing so close to Baron that their arms brushed, as she glanced over her shoulder into the darkness of the house. The flashlight beam bounced around the seemingly empty first floor as the two stayed rooted in their spot, still and silent. Then there was a thump from upstairs, barely noticeable, but both Galalunians, trained in combat, were immediately on alert. Baron unclipped the small flashlight on his pistol and handed it to Ilana, placing it gingerly into her palm.

"I'm going to check upstairs," Baron whispered, his face clouded in the dark as the light pointed at his chest now. "You hide down here. If anything goes wrong, I'll scream. That's your cue to get out and find the robot…or Lance."

Ilana shook her head, bringing the light up to Baron's dead serious expression.

"I'm not going to leave you. I –" Baron placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a tight smile.

"Just don't come upstairs." With that, the blond crept upstairs, leaving Ilana alone in the living room, one hand pointing the light at the ground, the other clenching a the kitchen knife.

The stairs, to Baron's annoyance, creaked with every step he took. Nonetheless, he managed to make it to the top without hearing any other noise to indicate Starling had heard him. Slowly, Baron made his way through the hall, glancing into Octus' open room, the only one that was devoid of any furniture. He slowly shuffled to the next two on either side of the hall. Just as his hand touched the doorknob on his left, he heard the air move behind him and turned, only to be socked in the face and into the wall. Baron steadied his footing and brought his gun up for a shot but Starling kicked it away, sending the weapon skidding across the floor, now at the top of the stairs. Baron brought around his other hand for a swing to Starling's throat, but the older of the two ducked and slammed his fist into Baron's jaw, causing his head to knock into the wall.

Baron grunted, seeing stars for a moment, before tucking down and rolling to the side. Before he could orientate himself, Starling grabbed the back of his makeshift bandage and dragged him across the carpet toward the stairs. Baron's vision was still sprinkled with stars as he kicked and swung his arms.

"How's your back, Barry? It was a RE 411 rifle. Brought it with me here. But you know what a hassle it is to reload that thing," Starling mused, as if discussing the weather.

"Get offa' me," Baron hissed, feeling the blood from his wound start to slide down his sides. Finally, one of his feet found purchase in the back of Starling's knee, causing the ex-lieutenant to stumble and let go, before Baron once again kicked him, this time in the front of his shin. Starling grabbed the bannister to hold himself up, just as Baron finally got his to feet, leaning over and gritting his teeth, trying to ignore the stinging that had erupted along his back. He dropped into a defensive pose, taking a step back instead of making the first move on the more experienced soldier.

"Don't make me have to kill you Starling," Baron got out, trying to whisper and idly wondering if a fall to the first floor from this height would break Starling's back. Starling raised one eyebrow and gave a soft chuckle, calmly leaning against the bannister.

"Princess," Starling called into the dark house, the only sound now Baron's heavy breathing.

"Surrender yourself, please. If you choose not to, I will kill your soldier here and I'm sure we'd all like to avoid that," the man explained calmly, watching in amusement as Baron snarled.

"Stop talking," Baron bit out. Starling smiled.

"Baron, is it? Princess, how much do you know about your little Barry here?" Baron lunged, ready to shut up the man before he said anything revealing. Starling dodged out of the way and grabbed the back of Baron's wrap again, tossing him into the wall at the top of the stairs, before punching him in the chest, sending the young man tumbling down the stairs, his head catching on one of the bannister beams.

"Barry, Barry, Barry. You were always so clumsy," mused Starling, slowly making his way down the stairs, his boots making an eerie _thump, thump _with each step, as if a monster was descending from the attic in a child's nightmares, waiting right outside of said child's room, ready to snatch him from his bed and devour his soul.

Baron tried to get up, but his vision was starting to fade in and out, the muscles in his back were badly damaged, and he felt blood rushing down his face from the head wound he sustained down the stairs. He cursed inwardly, realizing that Starling had the upper hand and that it was only a matter of time before the ex-lieutenant started spilling his secrets.

So, when Starling delivered a swift kick to his abdomen, flipping him onto his back, Baron screamed, louder than he ever had before, finding it somewhat cathartic. Usually, he withheld any sort of response, not wanting to let his enemy know how much the pain he inflicted really bothered Baron. But now, he hoped Ilana got the message and ran, because Starling would surely show no mercy if he caught the princess.

**:::**

**Some notes: I didn't want to make Baron seem weak, but he took two shots to the back, so obviously he's a bit sluggish. I also wanted to show Kimmy's importance to Octus, and decided to go in a different direction than the show, which I believe is plausible given that Octus obviously cares about her, and now Baron is there to protect Ilana so he has more free time with his girlfriend - more likely to spill the beans. Lance is just doing his own thing, which he often does because as we've seen, he's not really satisfied with the civilian lifestyle. And of course, he thought he'd have time to get involved with this stuff since he assumed Octus would keep an eye on Ilana.  
**

** (Also, just wanted to make sure you guys got that Sho is Chan's cousin - yes, yes, Chan is Chinese and Sho is a Japanese name, but that will be explained later...or not, it's not too important to the plot.)  
**

**About the story: I'm not sure exactly where I want to end it. I've considered redoing all of season 2 since everything changed now that Baron is in the story, but that requires _a lot _of work. So, I don't know. I'll try to finish the Starling arc with closure, so that you guys have some sort of ending, but I would really love to add onto this when I have time since I feel like I haven't met my goal of exploring the relationships between the characters. I'm also very sorry for the lack of romance and whatnot, but honestly, I'm more of a slow burn writer, so that stuff is going to take a while to build up (unless of course it's established like Octus/Kimmy) so, yeah it's annoying but it's also realistic since I think fighting giant monsters and assassins takes precedence over the love lives of teenage aliens lol. But I promise there will be some development!...I hope.  
**

**Comment and let me know what you think, thanks!**


	16. Consummate Liar

**I have no idea where I'm going with this. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy the ride!**

**:::**

"Who's the pretty boy?"

Victor Tam raised an eyebrow as Mike Chan approached the dock, flanked by Luke Wade and a dark-haired man who Tam didn't recognize. The Chinese man sighed, flicking away the burnt portion of his near-finished cigarette.

"Relax. It's just my new guy," Chan explained calmly, coming to a stop four meters away from Tam and another man standing behind him, holding a dark, unassuming bag. Tam took a puff of his cigarette, giving Chan a look. Mike glanced over his shoulder at the silent Luke and Lance, the latter of which frowned before stepping forward so he was next to the unofficial leader of this operation.

"Lance," the Galalunian introduced, looking Tam in the eye. Tam tossed aside his cigarette butt, shoving one hand into his trouser's pocket. He was a sharply dressed man, older looking than Chan, perhaps in his late 30s.

"Does Lance have a last name?" questioned Tam, sounding a bit amused, giving Lance a smirk.

"I could ask you the same thing," retorted Lance. He felt Chan stiffen beside him and Tam glanced back at his silent cohort, chuckling.

"Funny," Tam laughed again, as if Lance told a joke. He turned his attention to Chan next, the smirk still on his face.

"You have a funny guy, Michael. It'd be a shame if tonight is his last night with you," commented the older man, removing his hand from his pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighter.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" remarked Lance, raising an eyebrow as Tam took the time to light his cigarette and take a drag.

"Yes," he responded, paying more attention to his cigarette if anything. He took a long drag, blowing smoke out into the cool night air in rings.

"Now," Tam started, cigarette hanging between his fingers, "I'd like to stop posturing and finish this deal up. I have an operation tomorrow morning at six and you know how much I like my sleep. The money, if you will Michael."

Chan tossed the duffel bag to Lance, who caught it despite his surprise. Chan gave him a look and nodded in Tam's direction, indicating that Lance was to do the trade. The corporal glanced down at the bag, before slowly making his way toward the man across the dock. The man who had not spoken once behind Tam stepped forward to meet Lance at the midpoint. He was taller than anyone else, broad shoulders, but not as well-dressed as Tam, with jeans and a dark coat.

"You first," ordered Tam. "Norman will check, if you don't mind. You arranged the bills like I asked?"

"Of course," Chan nodded, clenching his fists. "Everything is like it should be, yo." Tam quirked an eyebrow as Lance held out the duffel bag which Norman accepted after placing his own bag between his feet on the ground. There was a moment of silence as the shorthaired man unzipped the bag and peeked inside, one hand pulling out a stack of bills. He seemed to be counting, going through the amount of money in the bag. He suddenly stopped in his motions, eyebrows furrowed.

"It's short." That was all Norman said. Tam did not look at all surprised.

"We want a higher percentage," Chan said bluntly. Tam laughed.

"You, or your father?"

"Both of us."

"Of course," Tam mocked. "Norman." And with that, he took a puff of his cigarette just as the man holding the duffel bag dropped it and pulled out a Glock. It was a quick motion, years of practice ingrained in such a motion, but Lance was faster, grabbing his wrist from the side with a twist, enough force to cause the gun to drop but not break Norman's wrist.

"I wouldn't make any sudden movements," Lance said, smirking a bit, his hand still firmly on Norman's wrist. "Or your wrist is going to take a while to heal." Norman, to the Galalunian's surprise, returned the smirk, but said nothing nor moved.

"Leave him be, Norman," Tam commented, and started to make his way closer, passing the two men locked by hand and wrist, right up until he was only a foot from Chan. He was shorter than the younger man, but nonetheless held himself as if he owned not just the dock, but everyone on it.

"Six percent. And that's only because we're family." Tam took another puff of his cigarette before blowing the smoke into Chan's face. Chan didn't even flinch, standing stark still, hands clenched, but otherwise made no motion, his lips pulled firmly down.

"And the next time you're short, I will break your mother's legs. She's a nice lady. I wouldn't want to do that. Let your father know I look forward to dinner next week."

Lance could only listen, keeping most of his attention on Norman, lest the man got excited. He scowled. Even for someone like Chan, this was entirely too dangerous. He wondered how this man, who even made him uneasy, was related to the teenager.

**:::**

"Come out Princess, and make this easy," taunted Starling, glancing around in the darkness, Baron on his back on the ground, gritting his teeth as his tried to get up. Starling gave him a swift kick to the side, enough force to knock Baron onto his stomach. With no hesitance, Starling slammed his heel into Baron's wound, eliciting a withheld choking noise from the teenager. Reaching into his coat, Starling retrieved his pistol and flipped on the flashlight, all the while digging his heel into Baron's back, the blood being soaked up by his makeshift wrap.

Baron grit his teeth, trying to think of the best possible way to escape his current situation. He still felt lightheaded, and blood was starting to get into his eye, not to mention he could barely concentrate on anything but the pain in his back. He knew Ilana was smart enough to have left when he screamed, so now he had to focus on his own safety. He glanced over at Starling's right foot, which was not on his back. If the ex-lieutenant had robed himself in full Galaunian military standard, which Baron himself had come to Earth in, then there would be a knife tucked in his boot. The only thing he needed now was for Starling to be distracted enough for Baron to slip the knife out.

"You do care about Barry here, don't you?" Saying this, Starling continued to put pressure on the wound, his light now scanning his surroundings for his target. "Why don't you scream a little more, Barry. I'm sure she'll come running then."

"A woman running towards you," Baron bit out, "I'm sure that's a once in a lifetime sight for a one-eyed creep like you, isn't it?" Baron let out a slight scream when Starling's heel dug further into his back, feeling the blood now run along his side.

"Go ahead. Make another clever joke Barry. You don't really need your fingers, do you?" Starling mused, bringing the light down, his aim now on Baron's right hand. Baron resisted the urge to say anything smart, hoping that Starling would return to sizing up the empty downstairs.

"Nothing? Really? And here I thought-agh!"

There was the sound of breaking glass and Starling stumbled, foot leaving Baron's back for a moment. The soldier took this opportunity to slip the knife out of Starling's boot and swing, burying it into his attacker's side. Starling grunted and kicked Baron across the face, nearly dislocating his jaw, before bringing his gun down, light blinding Baron for a moment as the ex-lieutenant readied to put an end to him. Just then, a figure leaped onto Starling's gun hand, causing him to misfire, an energy bolt making a mark on the floor panels.

Baron could barely roll away, watching Ilana claw at Starling's hand, managing to slap the gun onto the ground. The older man backhanded her across the face, forcing her off of him and swiftly removed the knife buried in his side, blood splattering on the floor and on Baron's clothes, as the teenager still sat near Starling's feet, trying to regain his footing through the earlier kick across the face.

"Not so fast, you little bastard," Starling grunted out, slamming his foot down on Baron's right hand, forcing him to stay in place. Baron withheld nothing now, screaming as Starling put his weight onto the hand, no doubt breaking his fingers as Baron's other hand uselessly clawed at Starling's foot in an attempt to remove it. Starling took this as a chance to lean over and bring the knife under Baron's throat, ready to slit it, until a light focused on his face.

"Let him go!" Ilana stood in front of the two, Starling's gun clenched in her small hands and aimed at the man's head. "Put down your knife and let go of him!"

Starling laughed.

"Do you really want to risk your friend's life here?" he questioned, his free hand moving to grab Baron's hair and pulling, exposing more of his neck. "Do you want to take that chance, Princess?"

"Shoot him!" barked out Baron. "Right in the forehead, do it Ilana!"

"Why not make this simple, Princess? Put down the gun, and I won't kill Barry. Then me and you can go for a nice walk." Ilana shook her head, yet the gun wavered in her grip.

"Who are you? Why are you dressed like a Galalunian soldier?"

"Ex-Lieutenant Charles Starling. It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Ilana," Starling introduced mockingly.

"Why are you attacking us if you're from Galaluna? Hasn't my father mounted a rebellion?"

Starling laughed, louder than before.

"Is that what you told her Barry?" Starling pulled Baron's hair harder.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ilana looking from Baron's pained face to Starling's smirking one.

"Your father isn't mounting anything. He's strung up like an animal in his own castle. I believe he's alive, but what do I know," Starling mused, clucking his tongue. Ilana's eyes widened, and the gun slightly lowered.

"W-what? You're lying! Baron said he was fine!"

"I'm sure he did. But your little Barry here isn't the most honest guy."

"No! You're just saying that!"

"Have you told her who's really in charge of the rebellion, Barry? Have you?"

"Shut up, Starling. You shut your sick mouth."

"Oh? Maybe I should take your tongue first…"

"Just let go of him! Please!"

"Well," started Starling, easing his hold on the knife. "When you put it that way…" And he gripped it, arm moving to the side, dragging the knife across Baron's throat.

A shot rang out, the familiar sound of an energy bolt, and a knife clattered to the ground.

Ilana slowly sunk to the ground, wide eyed, allowing the gun to slip from her hands.

"Baron?" she whispered, sniffing as tears started to form in her eyes. She pushed the gun aside and slowly crawled over to the two bodies. There was movement and Baron pushed Starling's corpse off of him, easing up with difficulty.

"I'm fine. He just nicked me," mumbled Baron, hand rubbing his throat, some blood spread across due to the small cut. He stared at the neat hole above Starling's good eye, where the bolt had shattered through his skull and destroyed his brain. Hearing a sniff, he looked over his shoulder, where Ilana was now quietly crying, face in her hands. Baron frowned and started to move over, still unable to really get up.

"Hey, it's okay, he's-"

"Don't," stopped Ilana, leaning away. "Was he telling the truth?"

Baron was silent for a moment. He was always a great liar, never had a problem, never felt that it was wrong. But seeing Ilana in front of him, tears on her face as she rubbed her arm across her cheeks, staring at him, he felt…guilty. Looking away, he stared down at his right hand, testing his fingers. The middle and ring finger were broken.

"Yes."

**:::**

**I THINK I'M GETTING TOO DARK FOR THIS SHOW.**


	17. Only a Flesh Wound

**Happy New Year everyone! As usual sorry for the delay, but enjoy the following two chapters because I'm pretty much deciding to go into season 2. **

**:::**

"It looks like it's going to leave a scar."

"Oh, joy," grumbled Baron, laying on the cleared kitchen table. Octus was standing over him with a suturing kit, while Ilana focused a flashlight overhead to allow the robot to work on the hole in Baron's back. It was only after a couple of minutes, wherein Ilana solemnly covered Starling's body with a sheet from Baron's makeshift couch bed, that Octus arrived at the house. Seeing the splintered wood in the door, and realizing it was blocked, the robot was on high alert, and silently entered through the upstairs window after temporarily disabling the backup security. Upon finding his charge alone with a bleeding Baron and dead body, Octus did several scans for any other intruders.

Ilana quietly insisted that they were alone as she applied pressure to Baron's back wound that was starting to bleed faster than before as the lieutenant came in and out of consciousness. Octus didn't even ask what happened or why the electricity was out, finishing his quick scan and carrying Baron to the kitchen, ordering the too-quiet Ilana to clear the breakfast table. It was then that he assessed Baron's injury and decided the bolt shot to the back was the most pressing, now bleeding freely.

"How long will it take to heal?" asked Ilana, watching Octus stitch together some badly torn muscle as Baron closed his eyes, finally succumbing to the anesthesia that was injected into him.

"Two weeks, probably. Luckily it doesn't seem like the beam was on the highest setting and it didn't shatter a rib. Just a slight crack and muscle damage, which is problematic but will most likely heal itself as long as there's no infection," the robot said, voice emotionless as he concentrated on Baron's back, blue hands expertly sewing with the precision of a veteran surgeon. Ilana didn't respond, just nodded and held the flashlight up.

"What happened," Octus finally asked.

"I-I don't know. He just…he said he was sent from Galaluna, from the Mutraddi. He said my father…" The blonde trailed off, not finishing her statement, and Octus pretended he didn't hear the shakiness of her voice.

"What else did he say?"

Before Ilana could add on, Lance dashed into the room, hood up, and fists clenched.

"What happened? I saw the body in the living room! Are you okay?" Lance hurriedly asked, making his way to Ilana in the darkness of the kitchen and placing a hand to her shoulder. Ilana nodded.

"No injuries. But Baron…" she gestured toward the table, where Octus was now stitching back Baron's partially burnt skin, or at least what he could stitch. Lance frowned.

"What happened?" he asked again, directing the question at Octus.

"Intruder attacked Ilana and Baron. Galalunian, but not on our side. Sent by the Mutraddi rebellion," Octus responded, as if reading off a list, his voice monotone, his hands expert.

"Why didn't you alert us?" snapped Lance, turning on Ilana to give her a look, eyebrows lowered. Ilana shook her head, not meeting his eyes.

"I tried. Our watches weren't working. We couldn't use our armor or send out a distress signal. I think he may have been blocking us somehow." Lance huffed before going to one of the kitchen drawers and grabbing a small flashlight. He left the princess and robot, making his way to the recently dead intruder, the sheet slightly pulled back from when he first checked the body. With no regard for decency, Lance placed the end of the flashlight between his teeth and began to search the dead man's clothing.

There was nothing out of place on his red uniform, until Lance sifted through the inside pockets of his vest. He felt silver, or some sort of tin, and pulled out the object to examine it. Slowly removing the flashlight from his teeth with his free hand, Lance eyed the object with suspicion.

A pocket-watch. The King's insignia was carved into the silver plating.

Lance clicked it open to reveal a digital setup, similar to the one on his watch, though much more sophisticated in design. Snapping the watch shot, Lance quickly used his foot to cover the body with the sheet, and stalked back to the kitchen.

Octus looked to be cleaning up the rest of Baron's wounds, the smell of antiseptic hanging in the air.

"I think this may have been blocking your watch. It was in the mercenary's pocket," Lance said, voice steady and lacking any emotion. This was not like with Chan – he was a soldier first, a teenager next. He held up the silver piece, dangling it by its chain. Octus glanced at it, but it was Ilana who made a quick grab.

"Wait…" she mumbled, thumb brushing along the insignia as she tried to examine it in the dark. "This is my father's. For his Manus armor."

"If it's his, then it probably controls a lot of high level applications not available to the watches," Octus noted, having moved to wrapping Baron's broken fingers and making them splints. Ilana was now flipping through the watch's digital settings and applications, eyes wide, hands shaking.

"Jamming. He would probably be able to jam watch signals with this. How did that that man get this?" Ilana's voice now shook as she considered the watch with a horrified look.

"Stole it, probably," Lance tried, not planning to jump to the worst conclusion. Ilana shook her head.

"No, my father would never let that happen. He said…that man said my father was being held prisoner! They must have tortured him for this or-"

"Ilana." Lance was at her side, hands on her shoulders to hold her steady. "Calm down. That guy could have been lying to rile you up. For all we know, this is some replica of your father's watch, or a knockoff." Ilana met his eyes and Lance could tell she very much wanted to believe everything he said was true. But she knew this watch. It was her father's, it had to be.

"Baron's injuries have been taken care of. Probability of infection is 39% on his back wound, but otherwise he should be fine. Princess, stay with him. If he starts to have seizures or cough blood, call me immediately. I will go try and fix the power outage. Lance, I take it you can dispose of the body?"

Lance nodded surely, moving away from Ilana and heading to the living room. Octus left too, heading to the backyard where the fuse box to the house was located. Alone with her unconscious bodyguard, Ilana broke down, sinking to the floor as she cradled the watch to her chest.

**:::**

**Shorter than usual but I wanted to split up this part and the next chapter since I felt the moods were too different. Hope I didn't get too dark for ya'll.  
**


	18. Interlude

**Last chapter of season 1! Although I stated earlier that this story started after "Lessons in Love", I think it was because I hadn't watched "The Fortress of Deception" yet. So, since nothing in that episode really contradicts anything in my story, just assume everything up to Fortress of Deception happened, and then Baron rolled in. **

***If you want a summary of what has basically happened over the course of the plot (since my updates have been slow), read the author's note at the end!  
**

**:::**

Baron sighed. What a bore.

He had been stuck at home for four days while his wounds healed. The flesh on his back was still tender, but healing quicker than Octus anticipated. His fingers, now trapped against a splint, would take longer to heal, and Octus explained that he might not have the full extension or flexion once the bone mends.

Baron sighed again, pulling Lance's blanket over himself. On Octus's suggestions and Ilana's orders, Lance had moved to the couch to allow the lieutenant better sleeping conditions to heal. Surprisingly, he did not throw a fit as expected, and didn't need much of a push, not like before. Whatever the case, Baron had seldom seen the corporal, who, although usually home, ghosted along as if he could ever play the role of patrol as well as Octus. The robot came to check on him once and a while, and Ilana visited with homework, to Baron's disgust, but otherwise, he was left on his own.

The lieutenant let out a loud groan and threw the blanket off before sitting up in bed and placing his feet on the floor. He wanted out. It was already four days, and the blond was actually _missing _school. Or at least, social interaction. He wasn't a Lance – no way could Baron ever pull off the whole loner thing for too long without going mad.

Baron made his way downstairs – everything had been cleaned up as if nothing happened, yet Baron was positive he could still see a blood stain from when Starling shoved him into a hall wall. To his benefit, Baron learned Octus did not recognize Starling, who had been discharged from the army long before Octus' time, nor could Lance who probably never met a man such as him. That left Starling only to be seen as a nameless mercenary, buried wherever Lance felt was best, and otherwise assumed to have never existed. To Baron's knowledge, Ilana had pretty much spilled the beans on everything, except, judging that Lance hadn't stabbed him in his sleep, the princess probably kept Baron's reveal of lying on the down-low.

The lieutenant would have to make an extra effort to win her affections again, if anything. The front door opened just as Baron had finished his microwave leftover lunch.

"Hey, Baron. How're you feeling?" Ilana, as always afterschool, settled at the kitchen table and started to unpack her homework. She shot him a smile, but it was much more muted than usual. Over her shoulder, in the living room, Baron could see Lance stalk upstairs, probably to Octus's room where he had been spending most of the day on his training regiment. Newton, surprisingly for the fourth day in a row, was home right after school, no events with Kimmy.

"Better. I think I'm good to go to class tomorrow," Baron responded, returning a smile, and ignoring the pity in her eyes.

"Hey," Baron called, as Octus morphed into his father disguise to prepare dinner. "You've been around more often. Not hanging out with that human anymore?"

"Yeah, Octus. Did you and Kimmy break up?" Ilana added in, her voice sounding almost like it did last week, a faint bounciness in it that had seemed to vanish recently.

"Yes. She was becoming a distraction." Ilana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and Baron nodded.

"Yup. Told you."

"Octus," started Ilana, concerned, "You know you don't have to spend all your time watching me. I mean, I know I judged you before for dating Kimmy, but I think she really liked you. And it wouldn't be fair for you to throw that away for me."

"Actually," started Octus, voice lacking, "I was built primarily to protect you. So, accordingly, it would be very much fair for me to put your needs over my wants." And that was that, but Ilana did not look at all satisfied. In fact, she pouted, shooting Baron a look. The blond just shrugged. He didn't care either way, honestly, but Ilana seemed to find Octus' love life to be her business now. Pushing her history textbook aside, Ilana got up from her seat and gestured for Baron to follow her.

"C'mon. I gotta talk to you."

**:::**

"Nope." _91_.

"Lance, come on! We need your help on this." _92._

"I don't do parties. And I'm sure Octus doesn't either." _93_.

"I agree with the corporal. For once." _Hah. Snarky bastard. 94._

"Guys, don't you see it? Octus is miserable. He's blaming himself for not watching me 24/7, and we all know how ridiculous that is." _Actually, that sounds pretty much okay to me_. _95._

"He needs this. He needs Kimmy. She made him so happy!" _96._

"Well, he did say he was the one who broke up with her." _97_.

"For me! It wasn't what he really wanted. If we can just get them to bump into eachother at the Scary Mary party, they could reconcile. And get back together! And Octus won't just stalk around forever in machine mode!" _98._

"But he _is _a machine." _99._

"You haven't known him for too long, Baron. He's not like that, never was. He's different." _100._

Lance sighed, getting to his feet from his last push-up. Despite Baron and Ilana's interruption, he intended on finishing up the first part of his regiment before fully engaging them.

"Ilana…I don't think this is a good idea," a shirtless Lance reasoned, reaching for a hand towel hanging over the door to wipe at the sweat on himself, "Parties are crowded and-"

"_Please_?" From her position near the door, hands clasped to her chest, Lance could tell this meant a lot to her, probably more than it should have.

"…" The dark-haired corporal looked away, pretending to be looking for a clean shirt in Octus' closet.

"Do it for Octus. He's our friend and he deserves to be happy." Lance met Ilana's eyes and cursed himself for being so easily swayed. But, he reasoned to himself, she seemed excited, which was the most emotion she'd shown since four days ago, and hell, it would be a lie to say that didn't influence his decision. From nest to her, leaning against the doorframe, Baron shrugged.

"Eh, I'm in. As long as I get out of this house."

"Lance?"

"…fine."

**:::**

**So many things going on, so many things unsaid! As I implied last chapter, I will be rewriting season 2, loosely following the original plot and putting my own twist on things since Baron is there and kinda screwed around with stuff. No promises on whether or not I'll finish, but I hope you all enjoy the ride - and yes, I will try to up the romance, haha! Below I added a summary in case I've been updating too slow and some of you are lost and don't wanna reread.**

**Summary: On Galaluna, Modula hires Baron, who has been working under him, to kill Ilana. Baron accepts, and lands on Earth, where he runs into the trio. Lance doesn't trust him, Octus attempts to stay neutral, and Ilana immediately takes a liking to the newcomer. With the antagonism between Baron and Lance growing, Mike Chan returns and ends up becoming more of a nuisance than usual. Finding himself upset with Octus and Ilana for not trusting him, Lance takes up Chan's offer to work for him, if only because he's bored of civilian life. This leads him to a run in with Victor Tam, a man who Chan makes illegal deals with - impartial, but looking for excitement, Lance doesn't think too much into the consequences of his alliance with Chan.**

**Meanwhile, Octus finds himself distracted with Kimmy, now that Baron holds watch over Ilana. Although the redhead tries to connect with the group and find out their secret, they are called to duty by Charles Starling, an ex-lieutenant from Galaluna who works for Modula. Starling evades the trio's detection until surprise attacking Baron and Ilana when they are home alone, using the King's pocket-watch to disrupt any attempt to signal for help. Starling reveals Baron as a liar, and indicates that Ilana's father is in much deeper trouble than suspected.**

**Although Octus returns to tend to Baron's injuries, he has revealed the secret of their "not-of-this-Earth" status to Kimmy, who seems dumbstruck by the entire thing. In response to what he sees as a grand failure on his part, Octus breaks up with Kimmy and retreats back into his robot-shell. Ilana, in an attempt to distract herself from her father's peril, which she knows she has little power over, decides Octus should get back with Kimmy and does not want to ruin his happiness for her sake. With a little coaxing, she gains Baron and Lance's approval to attend the Scary Mary party and get them back together. Of course, the three are unaware that Octus has spilled the beans on them to Kimmy. **

**That's all so far, hope you enjoyed reading up to here, and I'll try to be faster with my updates in the future!**


End file.
